Under the Macro Imbalanced Procedure – which Germany wrote into law thinking it would only ever be used against deficit "sinners" - the eurozone can order Germany to present an "action plan" to cut the surplus. If that fails, EU ministers then sit in judgment on Germany. They can force Berlin to pay a deposit of up to 0.1pc of GDP (€2.4bn) into a special account, while it is on probation. Ultimately, this money can be seized if nothing is done.