Analysis: Is eurozone running out of time on debt crisis?

"When it comes to EU politicians and the markets, there is definitely an asymmetry of arms," said Hugo Brady, a senior policy analyst at the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. "One criticism has been that political leaders move incrementally, rather than in big steps, for understandable reasons," he said, pointing out that politicians have voters and other constituencies to consider, which markets do not. "In my view, the period of sending signals to the markets and seeing how they react has to end. It's not a game the politicians are winning. … It would mean creating a working fiscal transfer system ... and somehow all the sovereign debts of member states being assumed. But that is science fiction talk," said Brady.