Friction over Merkel’s treaty change demands
Before another summit on Wednesday, leaders will try to work out details of a fund that could provide at least €1 trillion to fund euro countries’ debt, opening it up to money from China and the rest of the world, as well as working on a plan for a haircut of at least 50% on Greek bondholders.
But the bad-tempered summit yesterday opened up new divisions between leaders, many of whom resent the control Ms Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are trying to exert through pre-cooking decisions at private meetings, aimed at overcoming their own deep differences.
EU president Herman Van Rompuy acknowledged the fears of other member states when he told a press conference: “An agreement between France and Germany is important, but it is not sufficient at all.”
The leaders agreed to explore the possibility of limited treaty changes in December following a report from Mr Van Rompuy, after Ms Merkel repeated her demand for a legally binding requirement for eurozone member states to balance their books or face severe penalties written into the EU treaty.
It was unclear if this would require a referendum in Ireland, but Taoiseach Enda Kenny has already said he does not want a treaty change.
Meanwhile, Mr Sarkozy lavished praise on Ireland, saying it was “standing on the brink of a disastrous precipice in 2008, and today Ireland is a country almost out of troubled waters, out of the crisis”.
