Brussels - German Chancellor Angela Merkel stood resolute on twin, contentious demands that she insisted her European Union counterparts meet at a summit that opened on Thursday evening.
Merkel pressed her partners to rewrite the bloc's treaty to create a permanent Greek-style emergency fund, an argument she appeared to have won before the two days of talks got under way in Brussels.
However, she also stood solidly behind her plan to strip voting rights from countries that repeatedly miss targets and threaten economic stability among currency partners.
"Taxpayers should not be the only ones to shoulder the responsibility," Merkel said of German involvement in any perpetual rescue fund.
"To do this we need a modification of the treaties," she added, specifying she also wanted "a mechanism that includes those - the banks and investment funds - that gain money on high interest rates" on loans to countries in difficulty.
Merkel admitted she was expecting a "controversial" debate on voting rights but refused to yield.
But she argued that the Lisbon Treaty already contained such provisions for states that violate the EU's fundamental values and argued that "in my opinion a policy that endangers the euro, that endangers our economic and monetary union, goes against the fundamental values of the European Union."
Merkel last week secured the breakthrough backing of French President Nicolas Sarkozy on both points, although other countries immediately railed against what a declaration issued in Deauville that some saw as a Franco-German "diktat."
Sarkozy's support appeared to be winning the day on the treaty change demand as leaders gathered in political formations for pre-summit tactical talks.
Determined to drive through new rules that would radically change the way EU governments manage their finances, a succession of leaders said they could live with treaty change.
However, many came out against hitting voting rights, which an EU diplomat says could be viewed as a "transfer of powers" in Britain.
But an Irish diplomat suggested the move could avoid a third Lisbon Treaty referendum, after a previous rejection in Ireland.
In an effort to avoid a repeat of the panic unleashed across the eurozone by this year's Greek debt crisis, the EU wants to make sure governments take decisions on finances for the greater good.
Germany says it needs treaty change to counter domestic political obstacles, despite the Lisbon Treaty's painful eight-year gestation.
"There is a growing pressure that the treaty must be changed... and also that there should be very targeted and limited change in order to avoid a wave of referendums," noted Finland's Jyrki Katainen.
Viktor Orban of Hungary, readying to take over the bloc's chair in the new year, stressed that the Germans "want to get what they need" and that the evening talks would be about how to "reach the target."
Leaders will entrust EU President Herman Van Rompuy with finding the most practical way to implement final proposals by the spring, with a press conference called for later on Thursday evening.