Summit discussions between European Union and eurozone leaders ended with no winners or losers Friday, EU President Herman Van Rompuy insisted, after a clash was resolved between Italy and Spain on one side, and Germany on the other, dpa reported. Madrid secured a change in the terms of an upcoming eurozone-funded bank rescue, while Rome obtained a "mechanism" to reduce the borrowing costs of countries that are cleaning up their economies, but still face market pressure. "It was a tough negotiation, it took hours - certainly yesterday -and you can't summarize this in winners and losers," Van Rompuy said, referring to discussions that dragged until 4:30 am (0230 GMT) on Friday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel maintained that she "stayed true to (Germany's) philosophy - no benefit without a trade-off. " French President Francois Hollande refuted suggestions that Merkel had been forced into a policy retreat. "Mrs. Merkel can go before her parliament and say 'I did not change the rules, I did not go beyond my mandate'," he said.
