Most of the market focus in 2017 is set to be on key European elections, but predicting any of the outcomes could be a daunting task, a key European official told CNBC.
France, Germany, the Netherlands, and possibly Italy, will hold key votes during 2017 that could change the entire landscape of European politics.
The rising support for anti-establishment parties and recent shock outcomes in Britain and the U.S. indicate that any predictions cannot be taken as a guarantee, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the Eurogroup and finance minister of the Netherlands, told CNBC on Monday.
"Everyone who is sure about the outcome of the elections in the Netherlands, Germany and France will probably be wrong. It's very hard to predict," he said.
"The only thing that we know is that voters are much more on the move as they were some years ago and of course they're critical of the situation," Dijsselbloem added, as he entered a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels.
The Eurogroup meeting of euro zone finance ministers was overshadowed by the reactions to the Italian referendum, where voters rejected the government's proposal for constitutional reform.
Dijsselbloem told CNBC that if markets keep reacting calmly in the wake of the referendum result, there was no need for emergency steps. For now, concerns that the political instability will spread to the banking system and potentially impact the wider euro area seem muted.
The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said at his arrival in Brussels that there was no reason for a euro crisis and investors should be relaxed on Italy.
The former French minister, Pierre Moscovici, remembered that the Italian vote wasn't an anti-Europe vote.