EU leaders gather for rift-packed summit

Almost two years after adopting ambitious green goals, a year after signing the new Lisbon Treaty and some sixteen months after the first signs of the financial crisis, EU leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday (11 December) to write a new chapter in the three long-running dossiers.

The top-level gathering will kick off at 3 p.m., which is earlier than usual, with some diplomats predicting what will certainly be quarrelsome talks could drag on until late Friday or even early Saturd...