Three ways of driving a vehicle called eurozone

AFTER a tumultuous year, politics seem to be stabilising across Europe. Though the far-right Alternative for Germany, also known as the AfD, gained almost 13 per cent of the vote in Germany's recent federal election, it does not pose a serious threat to Chancellor Angela Merkel's leadership. In France - the other pillar of the European project - President Emmanuel Macron can count on a solid parliamentary majority. And, despite the uncertainty surrounding the details of Brexit, there is little doubt that, whatever plans the European Union makes, it will be doing so without the United Kingdom as a member.

So the question is how the EU and, in particular, the eurozone, will move forward. There are three possibilities.

The first option is a "more united union", as described by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in his state of the union address last month. Mr Juncker's vision rejects a multi-speed Europe, in favour of uniform steps by all EU members. This would mean, for starters, expanding the Schengen Area of border-free travel to include Bulgaria and Romania. He also called for progress toward a European Social Standards Union embodying a shared understanding of welfare entitlement in the single market.