Twenty-five of the EU's 27 member states have agreed to join a fiscal¹ treaty to enforce budget discipline.

欧盟27国已有25个国家同意加入一项财政协议以规范预算纪律。

The Czech Republic and the UK refused to sign up. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said his government would act if the treaty threatened UK interests.

He still has "legal concerns" about the use of EU institutions in enforcing the fiscal treaty, he said.

The Czechs cited "constitutional reasons" for their refusal, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a Eurosceptic（反亲欧派） , may be reluctant to sign the treaty, analysts² say.

The goal is much closer co-ordination of budget policy across the EU to prevent excessive debts accumulating.

Germany - the eurozone's biggest lender and most powerful economy - was particularly keen to get a binding³ treaty adopted to enforce budget rules.

The treaty will empower the European Court of Justice to monitor compliance⁴ and impose fines on rule-breakers.

The treaty also spells out the enhanced role of the European Commission in scrutinising（仔细检查） national budgets.

The Czech Republic is not yet in the euro, but like the other new EU member states it is committed to joining.

European Union leaders also discussed ways to stimulate⁵ economic growth despite the stringent⁶（严厉的） austerity budgets in many countries - and focused on how to reduce unemployment across the eurozone.