INTERNATIONAL

Squabble Over Timing Snags EU Currency Pact: Europe is less likely to have a common currency by the beginning of the next century because the Continent’s finance ministers were unable to agree on timing and other technical points. Spanish Finance Minister Pedro Solbes said the daylong ministers meeting had endorsed “fundamental elements” of a plan mapping out a transition to a single currency. But he acknowledged that they left a number of contentious issues for the European Union leaders to resolve at their Dec. 15-16 summit in Madrid. Failure to approve the plan in the Spanish capital could jeopardize the timetable for replacing francs, marks and other currencies by the 2002 deadline.