A post-mortem on the European Council

At the European Council meeting of 28-29 October 2010, the heads of state reached a highly unexpected unanimous agreement to a ‘limited’ Treaty reform, which in turn would allow Germany to agree to a permanent crisis resolution mechanism, as a permanent successor to the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).
In this Commentary, CEPS Director Daniel Gros and his colleagues Peadar ó Broin and Piotr Maciej Kaczy?ski examine this agreement and offer their interpretation of the Council’s intentions and identify possible obstacles to these intentions being realised.