New splits in EU’s unity as 23 members agree to greater union but Britain, others stay out
The leaders of 23 European countries moved to tie their economies much closer together in a new treaty in their latest attempt to shore up the euro, but failed to get the four other European Union members, including Britain, to join in.
Following marathon all-night talks, the 23 decided to back a new treaty with strict oversight over national budgets, as they try to convince markets that the euro has a future in the wake of a crippling debt crisis.
Even after Friday’s long-awaited deal, watched by governments and markets worldwide, the European leaders have huge hurdles still ahead. They are meeting again later Friday to work out what exactly their new treaty will contain and how violators of its strict budget rules will be policed. They want it written by March.
Britain, which doesn’t use the euro, led the push against a treaty tying all 27 EU countries to tighter fiscal union, arguing that it would threaten its national sovereignty and London’s esteemed financial services industry.
Most EU countries had pushed for an EU-wide accord to avoid a split, but Germany and France, the eurozone’s biggest economies, quickly made clear that a deal among the 17 euro countries and whoever else wanted to join was better than nothing.