26:1 (and the wisdom of Cameron's "veto")

Bagehot on what really happened in Brussels.

All in all, a diplomatic failure? Kosmopolito blog.

An interesting perspective on European issues by Giscard d'Estaing (Athens News):

Here is an excerpt:

He said that European leaders at their summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, widely seen as a final chance to get on top of the eurozone debt crisis, should forget about trying to revise European treaties.

"Reforming treaties that have to be modified by unanimous vote is impossible. Choosing the path of treaty revision with 27 (EU members) would make the crisis last and would give the impression that it is intractable," he said.

Instead, the 17 eurozone states should consider drafting a simple agreement among members of the single currency, similar to the Schengen agreement that introduced passport-free travel within 22 EU and non-EU states.

"It must be done very quickly, in the first quarter of 2012, a Schengen-type agreement driven by France and Germany and including other countries like Belgium and Italy. But it should only be open to eurozone countries, otherwise it will be a mess," he said.

The possibility of a smaller and more integrated core eurozone has been discussed by senior French and German civil servants, officials told Reuters last month. "I think that in the end that is how it will happen," Giscard said.

On Friday, EU leaders will review Franco-German proposals to reform eurozone governance via an amendment to the EU treaty to bring about more fiscal discipline. Giscard said leaders must agree quickly on debt and deficit limits and on sanctions for those countries that do not respect the agreement.

If some countries found the debt and deficit requirements under the new treaty too severe, they should return to their national currency, he said. "It is necessary to allow for the possibility of eurozone exit. This must be done under conditions that are correct, and not punitive," he said.

Giscard said Europe needed to fight speculators against the euro, whom he suspected were mainly American.
"Europe is like a city under siege. A big city, with a large population, and a strong economy. If its leaders do what needs to be done, this city will be free again," he said.

(Athens News, 7 December 2011)

Bagehot again

William Hague, in The Telegraph, 11 December

On the implications of the split

Charlemagne

Kathimerini

The Czechs and Hungarians on EU Tax Harmonisation and Control