Something extra from the European Summit for policy wonks and law students
David Cameron strides purposefully at the European Summit. He has taken Britain out of the equation of the EU for the moment but that could change.
For euro wonks here is a link to the final communique from the European Summit. The leaders called for a "new deal" between euro area nations to be enshrined in "ambitious rules " that are legally binding.
The key points:
Annual structural deficit not to exceed 0.5% of nominal GDP
Automatic "consequences" for euro zone nations whose deficits rise above 3% of GDP.
Combining the resources of the European Financial Stability Fund and the European Stability Mechanism to help euro zone countries facing immediate difficulties paying their obligations, as well as making an extra 200 billion euros ($270 billion) available to the IMF to make sure it has the resources necessary to help as needed.
It's all pretty expected and unexceptionable – so, of course British eurosceptics are taking exception. You may have noted the headlines elsewhere that Britain is not participating in the negotiation to create this close fiscal union. But since the mechanisms for monitoring the fiscal union are covered by the 2007 Lisbon Treaty – to which Britain is a signatory – some British right-wingers think this gives them the right to stop these same mechanisms being used to monitor something created under a different treaty.
Lawyers will be called in, make no mistake.