10:43 AM 
Image: Derrick Tyson on Flickr
Sentiment has been positive late this week that some sort of resolution is on the way, but EU leaders still have lots of hurdles to jump.
Here's our guide to all the big events you need to be keeping track of in the euro crisis.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will present a plan to create a "stability union" after they meet in Paris.
To date, the French and German leadership has become increasingly divided, with Merkel strongly opposing the more radical action Sarkozy and others have been endorsing.
Image: AP
It must pass this budget in order to receive the next tranche of €8 billion ($11 billion) in EC/ECB/IMF aid. This is all expected to go off without a hitch, but if for some reason it doesn't this could undermine the stability of the euro currency.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Leaders often engage in debates on issues crucial to EU governance at the meetings, and agree upon party-wide positions. Given the growing ideological divide between Sarkozy and Merkel, this debate could turn heated but important differences could also be resolved.
Those agreements could indicate the direction that an upcoming summit of EU leaders could take.
Image: AP/Riccardo De Luca
ECB members are already hinting at cutting rates again in December, after a surprise rate cut in November. Analysts will also be praying for Draghi to change his stance on ECB involvement in the euro crisis and its willingness to purchase virtually unlimited quantities of sovereign debt. The bank has up until now opposed such measures, but this could change at a moment's notice.
Image: AP Images
EU leaders will meet at a summit in Brussels. Opinions made at the European People's Party a few days earlier, the ECB's policy decision, and market conditions will likely influence their thinking on an endgame solution for the eurozone.
Investors have become more optimistic recently about leaders' ability to make some progress at the summit, particularly since it is clear that they are rapidly running out of time to take action. Markets will be hoping for significant, tangible decisions to be made at this meeting, but Germany could still stand in the way.
6. Monday, December 12
Image: Wikimedia Commons
However, whispers since the election have indicated that the outgoing Socialist party may have attempted to disguise some of the country's national debt. This would inevitably lead to a spike in government borrowing costs, which has not yet happened in force with all the attention on Italy.
Italy holds a bond auction. Despite yields falling recently in the secondary market, the auction will probably go terribly if EU leaders don't make credible commitments to the stability of the eurozone in the long-term on December 9.
Image: Flickr
However, if for some reason the Greeks do not succeed in passing a 2012 budget that conforms with troika guidelines, this could be the day that Greece does a hard default on its sovereign debt.
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