EU Summit opens in Brussels - Xinhua

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Top leaders of the European Union have gathered in Brussels for a 2-day summit that kicked off on Thursday afternoon. The latest meeting is aimed to further tackle the sovereign debt crisis in the hope of avoiding the collapse of the single currency in the euro zone.

Europe under construction - or is it re-construction. As work took place outside on the new European Council building - the leaders inside also had some heavy duty work to do.

There are growing fears the euro might fall off a precipice, some are calling this summit the most crucial since the debt crisis began.

As they arrived for their 20th meeting in two years, the leader had never seemed so divided. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was concentrating on growth and employment.

Angela Merkel. German Chancellor, said, "We've worked through a good programme especially as far as future investment is concerned, but also for more employment opportunities, especially for young people. I hope that we will be able to pass this pact today and therefore will be able to send out an important signal in addition to the fiscal pact."

Despite her talk of growth, she's an advocate of austerity. That position has set her apart from her neighbors. But Germany holds the purse strings - and therefore most of the power.

In recent days, Merkel has ruled out euro bonds and rebuffed pleas from Spain and Italy to underwrite their debts and bring down their borrowing costs. Brenda Kelly is from CMC Markets says the leaders can no longer be accused of kicking the can down the road.

Brenda Kelly, market analyst, CMC Capital Markets, said, "A lot of these countries are doing what is politically useful for them rather than what is useful for the euro zone as a whole - so I think that's why we are seeing the can pretty much flattened at this stage."

Italy is leading the calls for using European bailout funds to stabilize the markets, setting up a showdown between Merkel and Monti. It's not the only case of Germany facing Italy.

The country's two football teams were meeting on the pitch to gain a place in the final of the European Championships - the leaders here know the stakes are much higher.

(Source: CNTV.cn)

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