December 7, 2011
European Union leaders will be gathering in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for one of the most anticipated EU summits ever. Some say that the very survival of the common currency is at stake. But even as Germany's Angela Merkel will be focused on stricter budget rules, several other proposals are also on the table. SPIEGEL ONLINE provides an overview.
As recently as Monday, one could almost have formulated a cautious conjecture for how the European Union summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday would play out. The EU, it seemed, would agree to significant changes to the Lisbon Treaty to enshrine automatic penalties for those states in violation of euro-zone debt rules and would take steps toward greater fiscal integration in the common currency area.
In response, as hinted by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi last week, the ECB would step up its bond-buying program. Financial markets would be reassured, interest rates on sovereign bonds issued by heavily indebted European countries would fall and Europe would thus have time to implement the treaty changes and work its way out of the debt crisis.
As the summit approaches, however, that scenario is looking increasingly optimistic. Some might say naïve. Indeed, with Standard & Poor's raising the specter of a downgrade for 15 of 17 euro-zone countries along with the euro backstop fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), the pressure is greater than ever to push through a package of measures that will deeply impress investors.
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