Satisfying these conditions would, of course, lead to fully-fledged political union, but the process could be gradual, starting with a banking union, a fiscal union, or a central bank with lender-of-last-resort status – a functionalist approach that might be more politically viable. Some will oppose greater solidarity nonetheless, disregarding the elementary fact that enhanced interdependence in a monetary union requires it, and ignoring the Lisbon Treaty’s affirmation of Europe’s “social market” model.