Battle lines drawn at Brussels summit

Germany hopes that having a budget czar a move thats been bandied about for months will help keep Europe from repeating past mistakes by stopping governments from overspending and needing expensive bailouts. But some countries,like France,are wary of handing control over their finances to unelected officials in a foreign capital.

I am astonished that,no sooner does someone make a progressive proposal 8230; the cry immediately comes that this wont work,Germany is isolated,we cant do it, Merkel said in Parliament ahead of the summit.

President Francois Hollande of France increasingly the counterpoint to Germanys weight in the EU brushed off the suggestion as simply not on the table at this summit. But Hollande is backing a plan that would also see at least members of the euro zone hand over a great deal of sovereignty. The only decision that we have to take,to confirm,is putting in place a banking union by the end of the year, he said. The first step is a banking supervisor.