for more on this, we're joined by steven barber a political economist from london's south bank universityank you so much for joining us. i guess the main problem still has to be tackled by the eu. what have they learned from 2013? >> we're no longer talking about serious break of the euro zone as we were perhaps 12 months ago. so it is a healthier and happier place than it was a year. >> is that because the systems put in place are working? >> yes, over the course of the last two years or so, there have been a number of innovations in particular bolstering the power of the european central bank to intervene in the bond markets, and they factor taking control over fiscal policy as well. >>> greece, italy, france, spain, what do you think the flash points might be? >> the likelihood is it is moving into growth. but beneath that there are more positive stories, but you are quite right, france looks like it is moving backward. italy has very different sort of issues, the kind of political problems that we saw in 2013, there is all sorts of institutional reform there, and debt levels which are