The proposed changes sound fine and sensible, but isn't this the way it was supposed to be from the beginning? Before the official euro launch there was plenty of talk about following the rules but that didn't always happen. On top of that, following the financial rules isn't what created the problems for Spain, since their budget was just fine until the real estate market collapsed.
If the EU leaders can't agree on what they already agreed upon or figure out what crashed the eurozone, how can they fix the problem? Is this new treaty just another political game to show people that they're doing something without really doing anything?
"Things cannot continue as they have done up until today. Our preference is for a treaty among the 27 (EU members), so that nobody feels excluded, but we are open to a treaty among the 17 (euro members), open to any state that wants to join us," Sarkozy told a press conference following the meeting.
"This treaty would contain the following things: We want automatic sanctions in the event of a breach of the rule on deficits below 3 percent (of GDP)," he said.
"We want a golden rule that is reinforced and harmonized on the European level so that the budgets of all 17 (euro zone states) have a constitutional rule to ensure that national budgets move toward a return to equilibrium," Sarkozy added.
