Markets lukewarm as EU summit fails to break ground on debt

"The reason why most governments signed up to this [pact], despite having very strong reservations about it, was because they thought it was a necessary evil in order to persuade Germany to move on other fundamental problems," said Simon Tilford, from the CER in London....But Mr Tilford was pessimistic on the German willingness to do much more. The divisions in Europe were highlighted yesterday by new unemployment rate numbers, with Germany's falling to 6.7 per cent, a 20-year low, and crisis-hit Italy's rising to 8.9 per cent, the highest point since it started collecting the data in this form in 2004. ..."At the moment the Germans are setting the agenda, although they are allowed to set the agenda by France, Italy and Spain," said Mr Tilford.