In the early 2010s, the economic system of the united Europe faced a number of serious problems caused by debt burden, which affected the public finance sector the most. The article analyzes the dynamics of the European sovereign debt crisis in the first quarter of the XXI st century, to overcome which a number of non-traditional monetary instruments were incorporated into the monetary policy of the European Central Bank. The authors provide an assessment of the current debt status in the euro area and evaluate possibilities of resolving the crisis in the short term. The analysis of the sovereign debt crisis is especially relevant at the current stage of the aggravating debt crisis in the European Union and in view of the risk of the Union disintegration.