EU draft urges contracts for Euro states

Eurozone countries would have to sign binding contracts with Brussels, committing them to detailed fiscal reform, according to a draft EU agenda that would increase the bloc's control over national economic policies. The provision, included in a report distributed to EU countries before this month's summit, would require all 17 eurozone members to sign on to the kinds of Brussels-approved policy programmes and timelines now negotiated only with bailout countries, reported the Financial Times on Wednesday. The proposals, reflect how far some EU leaders believe they need to overhaul the eurozone with more centralised decision-making. It is a shift that many policy makers conclude will require a wholesale change in EU treaties. The draft is the first salvo in an anticipated fight over how to give the eurozone powers now reserved for national finance ministries.      Coupled with an impending plan from Jos? Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, for treaty changes, it threatens a new round of debate over how much sovereignty national governments would cede to a supranational institution, the newspaper said.