Tour d'Europe: Region faces its demons

EUROPE

Guy Foster, head of portfolio strategy, Brewin Dolphin, on how the eurozone has dealt with the recent crisis and what to expect from the continent now.

Since the European crisis began to gather pace in 2007, the road ahead seemed to grow more arduous with each week that passed. Now, however, a number of landmarks have been passed that have provoked investors to wonder whether they have finally passed the highest summit and to look further along the path towards the Champs-Élysées. Recent weeks have seen the (virtual) ratification of European Stability Mechanism (ESM) by Germany (courtesy of the recent begrudging approval of the Constitutional Court), and the all-important announcement by the European Central Bank (ECB) that it will buy ...