The European Central Bank’s emergency meeting last Wednesday was a remarkable event. It could be the first time that a central bank confronted by the onset of a crisis has moved early and quickly.

Concerns about the structural stability at the heart of the sovereign bond market in Europe have never been silenced. Despite the power of the “whatever it takes” pledge a decade ago by then ECB president Mario Draghi, and extensive bond-buying programmes, markets have consistently priced a credit risk premium into the sovereign debt of some countries.

Europe’s sovereign bond market is unique. Debt is issued by member states, but money is created by a supranational entity, the ECB. The power to print money is the basis of the creation of benchmark risk-free assets in a financial system. Without the ECB’s backing, the eurozone has no such asset.