Italy’s debt, which is expected by the European Commission to reach 135 percent of G.D.P. this year, is the most worrying. Unless growth and inflation go up, its borrowings are not sustainable. Given that Italy’s debt is 2.1 trillion euros, or about $2.8 trillion, the repercussions of its getting into trouble would be horrendous. Italy needs to step up its privatization plans to head off fears that its debt could spiral out of control.

Some eurozone politicians, especially from France, seem to think that the solution is to loosen both monetary and fiscal policy. Yes, sort of.

Now that interest rates cannot fall further, the E.C.B. certainly needs to introduce a determined program of quantitative easing — the buying up of assets with newly created money. Given the undeveloped state of much of the eurozone’s capital markets, this means buying government bonds in large quantities. There would be two benefits: Inflation would go up and the exchange rate would fall.

There is also a strong case for the European Commission to give those countries that are engaged in serious structural overhauls extra time to hit their deficit targets. Such an approach has worked well with Spain, which was twice given more budgetary leeway during its program. But even when extra time is justified, this should be used to avoid tax increases rather than to let up on cuts in public spending.

What is more, a program relying solely on looser monetary and fiscal policy would be more damaging than helpful. It would take the pressure off governments to change. A resurgence of the crisis would be probably delayed not prevented. And when it returned, it would do so with a vengeance.

The biggest worry is France. President François Hollande of France has done too little to rein in public spending or liberalize labor markets. His newish prime minister, Manuel Valls, is trying to overhaul the economy but lacks whole-hearted support from his president, the Socialist Party and the country. At least Italy knows it has to change and has a prime minister, Matteo Renzi, who is determined to bring this about.

Mr. Hollande now wants to install Pierre Moscovici, his former finance minister, as the European Commission’s new economic commissioner. Given the need to keep the pressure on Paris, it would be a mistake to make a poacher one of the gamekeepers.