EU leaders debate how to prevent another crisis

Germany and France face an uphill battle to sell their ideas on preventing another government debt crisis to their EU partners.

The European Union's two biggest countries are seeking to strip EU voting rights for repeat overspenders.

They also want to let incorrigible budget busters default in an orderly way - without getting expensive bailouts.

Those issue top the agenda for a two-day EU summit that gets started Thursday.

Critics say changing the EU treaty requires referendums in some countries. Europeans have used these to vent their dismay with the EU and voted no on key changes.