The leaders of 25 EU countries have signed a new treaty they hope will prevent the 17 eurozone nations balance their books and alleviate the currency bloc's crippling debt crisis. The treaty was not signed by the UK or the Czech Republic.

...The Netherlands announced that its "provisional" public 2012 deficit would rise to 4.5 percent of gross domestic product from 4.1 percent forecast before, sparking a pointed rebuke from the European Commission.

"We think that the Netherlands is one country that has been very vocal when supporting the reinforcement of our fiscal surveillance rules," said European Commission economy spokesman Amadeu Altafaj.

And Spain, at the centre of the debt crisis with soaring borrowing costs that have since receded, had to explain why the country's 2011 public deficit estimate grew to 8.5 percent of GDP from a previous forecast of 6.0 percent.

Serbia clinched its coveted status of EU candidate country at a summit in Brussels last night (1 March), after Bucharest dropped its opposition following an agreement on a roadmap that should see Romania enter the Schengen passport-free area in September.

...During a dramatic meeting at the ministerial level on 28 February, Romania took its EU partners by surprise when it announced it had concerns over the rights of ethnic Romanians living in Serbia...

The move raised eyebrows among EU ministers, while in Serbia anti-Romanian sentiments started spreading like a forest fire.

This led to frantic behind-the-scenes talks ahead of the EU summit. In what appeared like a face-saving effort, Bucharest and Belgrade signed a bilateral agreement at the ambassadorial level yesterday morning, providing for the better protection for the Romanian minority in Serbia.

BRUSSELS - Forced to reflect that this week's EU summit might be his last as he trails in polls ahead of April elections, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he does not have the temperament to lead an EU institution.

"I don't think I have the qualities to be a good European Commission or European Council President," he said in Brussels on Friday (2 March) in response to a press question on his potential future career.

With the first round of elections taking place on 22 April, Sarkozy is polling 3.5 points behind Socialist contender Francois Hollande.

A second round vote, on 6 May, sees Hollande on about 56.6 percent, according to an Ifop poll published Thursday, compared with 43.5 percent for Sarkozy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin seems all but certain to win re-election in Sunday's vote, with current opinion polls putting him at 60%. The runner up, Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov, trails with only around 15%.

Bellvitge Hospital, which has been one of Spain's most important health facilities for complex surgeries, canceled all of the day's procedures. Among the patients affected by this sudden closure was Silvia López, a 33-year-old woman who was meant to have seven cancerous tumors removed from her rectal area. The cancer has spread to her liver.

"All of these months of chemotherapy and weeks of diet so they can leave us out in the cold at the last minute," she said.

Additionally, a hospital official said there wasn't any money to treat the hundreds of patients -- many of them elderly -- who have come down with seasonal flu. "We have been hit right in the middle of the flu epidemic and there are not enough beds for patients," the spokesman said. The Catalan government of Artur Mas has made some $1.2 billion euros in cuts, or 12 percent of the region's health budget.

Private companies could take responsibility for investigating crimes, patrolling neighbourhoods and even detaining suspects under a radical privatisation plan being put forward by two of the largest police forces in the country.

West Midlands and Surrey have invited bids from G4S and other major security companies on behalf of all forces across England and Wales to take over the delivery of a wide range of services previously carried out by the police.

The contract is the largest on police privatisation so far, with a potential value of £1.5bn over seven years, rising to a possible £3.5bn depending on how many other forces get involved.

This scale dwarfs the recent £200m contract between Lincolnshire police and G4S, under which half the force's civilian staff are to join the private security company, which will also build and run a police station for the first time.