Europe remains split on sanctions for budget offenders EUX TV News Update

Description: bit.ly BRUSSELS - The president of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, on Thursday kicked off another key meeting in Brussels on the European economy. At the table... the EU's 27 presidents and prime ministers, including German chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the new UK Prime Minister, David Cameron. The member states looked to be in broad agreement on ways to strengthen budget discipline and economic policy coordination, but as usual, the devil is in the details. Diplomats said plans for tough sanctions on countries such as Greece were still controversial because they can potentially exacerbate the economic crisis and put eastern European countries at a disadvantage. The summit has revealed what diplomats call a "general lack of enthusiasm for punishing countries that already on their knees." So instead of reaching an official agreement on a new stability and growth pact, the summit proved to be another opportunity for a European show-of-unity at a time that financial markets remain edgy over government budget deficits. A firm agreement on punishing countries that violate the financial rules for the euro still is not on paper. That's now expected to happen in October, giving the the member states another three months to overcome their differences. Update by Raymond Frenken, EUX.TV Also read: www.euractiv.com For the official summit conclusions: www.consilium.europa.eu