Friction over Merkel’s treaty change demands

DEMANDS for another change to the EU treaty by German Chancellor Angela Merkel caused further friction between member states even as they edged towards creating a “bazooka” to protect the euro in what all acknowledge is an unprecedented crisis.

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.