The only thing is that the basic treaty which set up the eurozone expressly forbids the ECB from monetising sovereign debt.

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An FTT on FX in the EU would be illegal and it is doubtful that anyone wants to go through the process of revising the basic treaty to change this.

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The basic bargain of the treaty is that those states commit to getting rid of their nuclear weapons eventually while the rest commit to staying non-nuclear.

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Furthermore, the tax is considered to be disproportionate as funds could alternatively be raised by other means of budget attribution without affecting a basic freedom of the Treaty and, in any event, because the scope of the tax would be unrelated to the risks to be covered by the tax revenue raised.

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The problem wasn't the treaty, it was the fear of losing basic powers to Continental bureaucrats.

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Germany and France are pushing for changes to the EU treaty, saying stricter fiscal rules should be made part of basic EU law.

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The treaty wasn't the problem, it was the fear of losing basic powers to Continental bureaucrats.

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It's not over yet -- Mr. Bush is said to be making a decision this week -- but the basic thrust is as follows: The U.S. would agree to delay withdrawing from the Treaty in return for Russia allowing the U.S. to proceed with anti-missile tests the Treaty now bans.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy