Quadriga

It was a grueling marathon summit for European Union crisis managers. It took a long night of tough negotiating among eurozone leaders, confrontations with the big banks and bitter pills for ailing EU member states to save the euro. EU leaders have pulled Greece back from the edge of insolvency and reached agreements on basic policy. The key decisions that were made are a 50-percent write-down of Greek debt, recapitalization of European banks and leveraging of up to one trillion euros for the rescue fund, the EFSF. Italy will also be expected to take radical austerity measures.

"There was no great sensation but this is a significant package on the road to greater stability and a more stable union," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Despite that optimism Merkel has not entirely ruled out the possibility that all efforts to avert the crisis may be to no avail. Ahead of the summit Merkel was criticized for her handling of the crisis but since Thursday she's been praised for her cautious and slow approach. It seems the eurozone crisis has been stopped for the moment but it remains to be seen if it has been permanently solved.

Stock market investors around the globe reacted positively to the summit’s outcome. Analysts, on the other hand, are less confident. Skeptics do not believe the eurozone's mountain of sovereign debt can be reduced using the approach agreed in Brussels. They believe the problem has merely been kicked down the road. There are also many questions as to how the Brussels deal can be turned into reality and money alone will not solve the problem. The EU still needs to undergo significant reform and government leaders will probably have a few more long nights of summit talks ahead.

What do you think? Decisive Week - Can Europe Come to Grips with the Crisis?

Write to us at: Quadriga@DW-World.de

Our guests

Friedrich Thelen

Friedrich Thelen - After earning his doctorate in law, in 1975 he took on the post of director at the German Development Service. Friedrich Thelen then worked as a journalist for the leading weekly newspaper "Die Zeit". In 1978 he switched to the business weekly "Wirtschaftswoche", where he began his career as the magazine's Bonn correspondent and bureau chief. Later he became the bureau chief of Wirtschaftswoche's Berlin office.

Ulrike Herrmann

Ulrike Herrmann – started her career in banking before taking up journalism at the Henri Nannen School afterwards studying history and philosophy at Berlin’s Free University. She then worked as a research assistant at the Körber Foundation and was the press officer for Hamburg’s Equal Opportunities minister, Krista Sager. In 2000 she became a political correspondent and business editor at the Berlin daily "taz". These days she is the responsible editor for the opinion page of this newspaper.

Stefano Casertano

Stefano Casertano - He is an academic and a journalist, living in Berlin. He teaches international politics at Potsdam University, and is a Senior Fellow at the Brandenburg Institute for Society and Security. He is a columnist for the Italian business newspaper Linkiesta.it. In 2008 he completed his MBA at Columbia University, and later his Ph.D. Magna cum Laude at Potsdam University. He served as international affairs advisor for the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. He published four books about geopolitics, starting with a History of Cold War in 2009. In 2010, he has been nominated "Italian Young Leader" by the US-Italy council; and "Aspen Young Fellow" by the Aspen Institute.