If well designed, such targeting can, in turn, create the necessary fiscal space, and possibly the political support, that is needed to ensure adequate support for individuals and families who need it most. More fundamentally, however, the highly asymmetric nature of the GR, and its consequences, across Europe have highlighted the incompleteness of redistribution in the EU, where social policy is formulated nationally, and without a mechanism for ensuring that spending patterns account for differences in poverty and unemployment risks across countries. There are major political barriers to moving social policy responsibilities from nation states to the European level.