Berlin says Ja
To get the job done they did have to marshal some monstrous legalese like "bridging clauses", "competencies-competencies" and "emergency brake procedures". But in the end “the Bundestag pulled off its balancing act”, reports the Frankfurter Rundschau. On 8 September, the German parliament’s lower house passed a law – required under a Constitutional Court ruling in late June – that paves the way for Lisbon Treaty ratification – giving it a say in European lawgiving, “albeit without turning Berlin into the lame duck of Brussels”. Through “minimal pragmatic compliance” with the Constitutional Court’s demands, German members of the house have given the “cue to move ahead in stymied Europe”, delights the Frankfurt daily, which reputedly endorses the Lisbon Treaty. The FR also points out that the 8 September ayes should keep “the populist leaders of the CSU (Bavarian branch of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats) from instrumentalising the debate to steer Germany’s European policy down a resolutely eurosceptical road”. Last step before ratifying the treaty: the law has to pass in the Bundesrat (upper chamber) in mid-September.
Two camps, two theories, and two visions of France: 18 years after the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis, the precise role played by Paris is still the subject of heated debate, fueled by the findings of successive criminal investigations. 
Agree to new austerity measures or risk being kicked out of the eurozone: that’s the alternative presented to Athens on the day the euro group is meeting. It’s a situation Greek politicians have failed to avoid, regrets To Vima. 
At a time when Athens is still involved in debt restructuring negotiations with its private creditors, Neelie Kroes’ recent allusions to a Greek exit from the euro are a sign that European leaders are intent on preparing the terrain for such an eventuality.