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It is safe to say that the European economy won't be roaring out of recession as a result of an injection of new money from the European Union.

The trouble is that for four months there's been a row about money that doesn't exist for projects that aren't decided.

When the European Commission back last year it was really about trying to coordinate the stimulus packages of member states by urging they spend 200bn euros (£177bn) on tax cuts and investment. A relatively titchy 5bn was to come from the EU's own budget (OK, European taxpayers' money): money that hadn't been spent in 2008. Instead of giving the underspend back to the 27 member countries the commission wanted to fund green technology and broadband connections, as one way of stimulating Europe's economy.

But many states, including Britain, thought the list was too vague and that the money wouldn't be spent soon enough to do any good.

By the time the commission had come up with a new plan the lawyers ruled that they couldn't spend the 2008 money.

Now they think that they can find the cash from this year's budget, butsome countries were arguing that they don't get enough out of it.

There is the glimmer of a possibility that the row will be sorted out when the foreign ministers meet next month and commission sources say they are hopeful, but potentially wired-up, job-creating, carbon-hating wind farmers and wave-machine inventors and the like shouldn't hold their breath.

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