The EU summit has broken up supposedly after laying the foundations for banking union, but in fact behind the scenes it appears little has been decided and divisions remain, above all between the French and Germans.
While François Hollande claims 10 member states have signed up to the so-called Robin Hood tax on financial transactions, Angela Merkel has warned the EU needs a banking union that works before going any further.
"It is important to do things in the right order, and to have reliability for those who are watching the changes we make," she said.
Merkel added it would take many months to set up a eurozone banking supervisor, and drawing up the legal framework for a banking union would take until the end of the year. She also spoke in favour of an integrated budget with a solidarity fund to boost competitivity.
