Has the European Union (EU) done enough? Ranking Member Shelby addressed the progress, or lack thereof, in solving the European debt crisis. Conceding the that the answer to the question was “no”, Chairman Johnson focused the hearing on the question of the political will of the EU to make the necessary and difficult economic decisions.

Representatives from the Departments of Treasury and State, along with the Federal Reserve,comprised the hearing’s only panel. They agreed the European economy was a “mess”, but said the EU has made considerable progress in setting up the institutions and processes needed to resolve the problems.

The witnesses did not believe U.S. firms held an excessive amount of European sovereign debt and told the Committee that they would convey concerns about the restrictions on U.S. financial institutions holding foreign debt contained in the proposed Volcker Rule.