MORE WORK AHEAD: European leaders agree more needs to be done to stimulate growth and regulate banks, though sharp divisions remain over the issue of pooling government debt as a way to ease the continent’s financial crisis.
THE DETAILS: At the start of a two-day European Union summit, European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Olli Rehn signaled that leaders would likely agree on €130 billion ($161 billion) in spending geared toward job creation, as well as some new measures that might reassure investors that Spain and Italy will be able to manage their debts.
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THE ROADBLOCK: But German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected the most obvious way of reducing borrowing costs for the southern European countries: by quickly issuing “eurobonds,” or debt backed by all countries. She says such a bond issue can only happen once national governments have agreed to give a central authority the power to change their budget policies. That could take years.
