EUROPE - At the 11th hour, the governing council of the European Central Bank, has agreed a deal on how to share out the seigniorage profits of the euro. On December 6th - almost its last formal decision before the introduction of the new currency - the ECB released details of a complex formula designed to avoid large seigniorage transfers. The deal, however, runs out at the end of 2007, after which Germany's share of European seigniorage earnings will have fallen significantly.

The issue of