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Owen Bennett Jones introduces insight, wit and analysis from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ correspondents around the world. In this edition, Europe's past and its future, with contributions from Chris Morris in Frankfurt and Brussels, and Nick Thorpe in Prague.

A crisis at Christmas

The protracted, serious, unresolved and pressing matter that faces Europe - the fate of its political and monetary union - is not going away. The issue has been troubling politicians and their voters all across the continent for more than a year; a severe economic depression is a dinstinct possibility.

Yet for all the political effort directed at finding a solution – it's not far from over. Chris Morris has been exploring some northern European Christmas markets - and found in them some clues to how the EU might choose to tackle its woes.

Havel shared my sleeping bag

Vaclav Havel never had the benefit of a higher education – in fact he had to leave school at 15. But he became a celebrated playwright, pushing at the outer limits of what the Communist authorities would accept.
His reputation grew to the point that in 1989, the crowds in Prague demanding democratic change united behind the slogan "Havel to the Castle – as president!".

Nick Thorpe looks back at a life that made a difference to millions - and remembers an unusually close brush with the last President of Czechoslovakia.