[ccebook.cn]The World in 2010

mandate, will fight with the commission and the council of ministers—rather as it did
in the summer of 2009, when it delayed the approval of José Manuel Barroso as head
of the commission. Members of Europe’s parliament tend to believe in regulation and
intervention. They will seek to inject soggy corporatism into financial reform, the
promotion of high-tech industry, climate-change policy and the other areas the EU
wants to address in 2010.
Copyright © 2009 The Economist Newspaper and The Economist Group. All rights reserved.
other treaties,
Lisbon contains
no plans for the
next great piece
of reform
So a vital task for the EU in the year ahead will be to defend Europe’s beleaguered economy against this and
against attacks on the single market by states keen to be seen protecting jobs amid rising unemployment. The
other task is foreign policy, perhaps the treaty’s main achievement.
Europe’s foreign policy is chaotic partly because 27 countries often want different things, but also because of
the poor organisation of teams that rotate every six months. The new president of the council and the “high
representative” for foreign affairs may sound as if they have wandered off the set of “The Mikado”, but they
could have clout and resources. They could boost the EU’s place in the world—if only EU governments let
them. Having bungled the creation of the Lisbon treaty, Europe should now strive to make it work.
Edward Carr: foreign editor, The Economist
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