The stakes are rising again in the euro crisis. After a few months in which policymakers believed they might have turned the corner, the gloom is descending. A big row between the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund over how to cut Greece some slack, endless Spanish prevarication, egged on by Germany, over whether to ask for a bailout, and deep differences over how to use the bailout funds mean that the promise evident since June is evaporating.

But when EU leaders meet next week in Brussels for the first summit since what was touted as a breakthrough deal at the end of June, there will be no breakthrough, according to a government minister closely involved and other senior officials.