26 E.U. leaders agree to fiscal curbs; Britain only holdout for broad deal
A landmark summit of the 27-nation European Union ended here Friday with both a pledge and wedge: A pledge among nations to work toward a new treaty binding them more closely together in a pact to save the euro, and a wedge between the continent and Britain, which opted to sit it out.
In a summit portrayed by leaders as a make-or-break moment in the decades-long march toward European unity following World War II, the outcome signaled the growing clout of Germany and a potentially wayward path for Britain.
An interactive look at how the European Union is structured and how the new treaty would affect the member countries.
The veto by British Prime Minister David Cameron, a Conservative euro-skeptic who cherishes the pound and looks askance at heavy-handed European regulations in British affairs, underscored his nation’s long unease with relinquishing national powers to the E.U. and left London isolated in a region now moving toward deeper integration without it. His move left Britain’s Guardian newspaper asking, “Will it be Splendid Isolation, or Miserable?”