They can't corrupt the EMU members one by one because it will take too long - Sarko may not be around next year - and there are local constitutional issues which would mean that unwilling participants can always stall and say 'I'll get back to you'.

Then they can wait until Sarkozy gets his pack of directorships. And by then, Merkel may be too busy dealing with a German economic pancake landing to find the time.

It still looks more like a negotiating position to me. It's not impossible they can make it stick, but it's really not going to be easy. And neither of them seems like the kind of pol who has the relentless determination it's going to need.

Don't forget Sarko is the runty little prince of press release politics - big on the big scheme announcements, reliably useless on the practical follow-through.