They proposed new government-to-government talks aimed first at a two-year deal, then at a long-term revision of the treaty.

ECONOMIST: Canada

Majority voting may be extended in the revision of the Maastricht treaty supposed to be agreed on at the Amsterdam summit in June, but hostility from Britain and others will stop it going at all far.

ECONOMIST: Europe's Council of Ministers: Doing the splits | The

The proposed successor, a permanent facility plus procedures to impose losses on creditors of insolvent countries, needs a treaty revision to pass constitutional muster.

ECONOMIST: Germany and the euro