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Simon Tilford is chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. He says the financial crisis has left that vision in tatters. "Unfortunately, the necessary solidarity has been eroded by the financial crisis. The electorates of countries that have been asked to guarantee loans to the other member states are strongly resentful of that because they think why should we do that. We're rewarding them for their profligacy, or what have you.

Se romperá el euro, titula su trabajo Charles Grant, director del Centre for European Reform (CER), quien cree de todas formas que, a pesar de todas las dificultades, "es improbable que el euro se fracture". Y significa que "muchos anglosajones subestiman la fuerza de la voluntad política que lo sostiene". ... Simon Tilford, economista jefe del CER, no tiene ninguna duda de que la "unión fiscal" es imprescindible para reconducir la crisis. Insiste en que "la crisis de la deuda soberana de la eurozona es política, no es un problema económico".

One solution might be to restructure those countries' debts now and allow them to get their economies in order under humane circumstances, said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform. Such a simultaneous shock-and-awe move, Tilford said, might stop contagion and take pressure of Italy and Spain. "By going halfway, you're making everything worse," he said.

Others say it is too early to judge the Lisbon Treaty, adding that many of Europe's current problems are unrelated to the document. "The Lisbon Treaty is not like a new US president, you can't measure its first 100 days," Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank, told this website. … "She has been starting from scratch so it takes time. It is quite an achievement to create an institution. … The EU is a little bit more democratic," said Mr Brady.

"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.

The new US shale phenomenon is tied to favorable legislation on excavation permits, isolated and uninhabited areas and the growth of small, "technology-savvy" energy companies, according to Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform. … Barysch also said European experience with shale gas could not be compared to the US due to long-term contracts between Gazprom, the main Russian gas exporter, and several EU member states.

"Is the European Union functioning moderately better? Yes!" said Hugo Brady, of the Centre for European Reform. … "Ashton, whose new diplomatic corps also officially begins business on Wednesday, had an even tougher job to do than Van Rompuy … She had to fight to get inside the bureaucracy … It's now a grumpy teenager, hopeful after its preadolescent difficulties of growing up."

"My guess is that for quite a few years yet policymakers will do whatever they can to save this thing," said Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform. "If you sit in London, it's doomed. They don't understand the political investment. They look at the bond spreads and think it's doomed."

"It comes down on two different sides: One is the obvious one that is if this is a real resetting of relations with Russian, everyone benefits, and Central Europe will benefit the most," said Tomas Valasek, a foreign policy and defence expert with London-based think-tank the Centre for European Reform. "On the other side, Central Europe doesn't want to spend too much time on a reset because NATO doesn't have the power to change Russia's thinking; Russia will always see it as an unfriendly alliance.