A summit!

It is nearly summit time in Europe which I know will please the hundreds of millions of Europeans whose future my be decided over lunch at next week's meeting of the European Council.

The event will hope to decide the long term European budget. Readers will remember that at the last such meeting in November, fully ten out of the 27 nations threatened a veto if things didn't go their way.

Now the Open Europe blog has spotted the first veto threat and it is from Mario Monti, unelected Prime Minister of Italy, who says he could veto the budget if it is not big enough. You may recall that last time he wanted Italy's contribution cut, so he wants more spending but wants to pay less for it.

This could be a difficult one and you can almost feel the tension....of tight waistbands being loosened a bit further.