The leaders also agreed on other measures. These include giving the International Monetary Fund more money to try to stop the eurozone crisis from spreading.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the leaders meeting in Brussels took a step in the right direction.
CHRISTINE LAGARDE: "Number one, they want to really consolidate their fiscal union. Number two, they've decided to accelerate the European stability mechanism. And number three, they've decided to add to the resources of the International Monetary Fund by an amount of two hundred seventy billion dollars, that is to be confirmed within ten days. So, that's, that's a really good step in the right direction."
But Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Center for European Reform, in London, says the new treaty does nothing to solve Europe's debt crisis.
SIMON TILFORD: "The problem is that fiscal austerity will not solve this crisis -- at least not alone. Fiscal austerity has in many ways become part of the crisis. Enforcing unending austerity on countries in the periphery has already made their predicaments much worse and threatens to make a bad situation in Spain and Italy even worse than it currently is."
Mr. Tilford says whether Britain will be weaker for staying out of the deal depends on what happens to the euro area.
SIMON TILFORD: "If the eurozone does master this crisis and holds together, and we see increased integration between the participating countries within the eurozone, then Britain will become progressively marginalized within the EU.”
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25