The EU is going to push through a treaty requiring austerity, which will promptly be broken by numerous governments. Go figure. Will there be sanctions or will everyone be given time to run deficits as long as the market will buy bonds (or the ECB at least will buy)? It will soon be All Spain All the Time. This brief is from Roubini Global Economics and is quite well done. "Although most EU leaders agreed to the fiscal compact in early March, domestic political obstacles at the member-state level threaten to complicate the ratification process. However, the treaty is still likely to come into force at the beginning of 2013 (as scheduled) since only 12 of the 17 eurozone (EZ) sovereigns need to ratify it."