国际英语新闻：EU leaders seek unlikely happy end to euro's annus horribilis

However the Spanish economy has been hard hit since 2008 by the global financial crisis which burst the country's property bubble and the country is running a budget deficit of around 9.3 percent of GDP.

Government austerity measures aim to bring that down to 6.4 percent in 2011, but that will do little to stimulate economic growth which is not expected to rise above 0.7 percent next year after contracting over the past two years, hence the continued concern.

At previous meetings, EU nations have faced criticism for taking temporary steps to halt the Greece or Irish meltdowns but doing little to address the structural problems at the root of the euro's troubles.

This time, they provoked concern by failing to reinforce the temporary mechanism, despite preparing longer-term measures such as laying down the post-2013 funding mechanism and launching debate on a closer "economic governance."

The process that led to the launch of the euro in 1999 was known as European Economic and Monetary Union, but while that led to a single currency now shared by 16 EU nations, economic policy remains largely in the hands of national capitals, a situation which has led to divergences within the currency bloc.

Germany for example is enjoying a healthy 3.7 percent growth rate this year and runs a deficit of just 4.8 percent, while the Greek economy is set to shrink by 4.2 percent and Ireland runs a deficit of 32.3 percent. German taxpayers have been groaning all year about the EU's biggest economy having to pay up to bail out its stricken partners.