mr president could i raise a wider issue here
at christmas john bruton a former leader of ireland and one-time president of the council said that the part-time nature of the european council is really not fit for purpose given the extent of the crisis that europe faces
he suggested that the time given to these big issues is little more than the times when leaders are on a flight to brussels
he says that we are facing a financial crisis a crisis of the welfare state in an ageing society a crisis of globalisation of nation states and potentially even a crisis of the efficacy of european democracy
he says that leaders need to sit together until they have reached a full mutual understanding of all that needs to be done the whole job and not just bits of it
only something on that scale will give markets durable confidence
i would ask people to discuss this because perhaps he is right
