"Two weeks after a summit that promised to bring solutions to the European financial crisis, the European Union has once again revealed its fundamental contradictions" is how Stratfor's Adrian Bosoni introduces a succinct clip on the reality the European leaders faced once they arrived home after that strenuous weekend of blithering. Between Asmussen and Schaeuble who have steadfastly stuck to the no-monetary-transfer-without-sovereign-transfer tack - which actually make a fair amount of sense on a long-term basis - a robust and unified budgetary regime is precisely what Europe has lacked. Unfortunately, Bosoni notes, "even in a best case scenario this could not be achieved before 2015" thanks to treaties, referenda, and ratifications. In a little over 3 minutes, the analyst outlines exactly what is holding it back and why the short-term is all they have as budgetary discipline is proving particularly difficult for the EU members to maintain (see more Spanish riots tonight). Between Spain's delays in meeting targets, Greece's 'impossible' budgetary goals, Ireland's demands for concessions, and Finland's collateral agreement with Spain, unifying anything over there seems impractical and impossible.
A must watch for the quickest summary of the state of Europe - and the best explanation of the reality to which European credit markets are cracking as opposed to the nominal price of global equities leaking higher...