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10/24/11

EU summit eyes Lisbon Treaty change

While the meeting of the European leaders in Brussels has postponed the final decision on the struggling Greek economy until Wednesday, their plan to establish a joint economic government might lead to an architectural update of the European Union.

­The much-heralded summit in Brussels has failed to come up with a solution to the EU's spiraling debt crisis. Another assembly of the European Council has been scheduled for Wednesday to precede the eurozone leaders meeting. The day will be mostly dedicated to “the agreements on Greece, on banks, on leveraging the EFSF (European Financial Stability facility) and governance," the European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, told the press conference after the Sunday summit.

Still, some agreement seems to have been worked out during the Sunday meeting. Athens is pushing to receive more funding, while private holders of Greek debt are to see mandatory “haircuts”, or losses. The discussions now put the haircut between 30 per cent and 50 per cent.


As the EU leaders seek “economic convergence”, they have agreed to establish a joint economic government to be headed by Herman van Rompuy, the current president of the European Council. The idea of joint economic government was first proposed by France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy some three years ago.

For more: EU summit eyes Lisbon Treaty change — RT

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