Herding cats

Any hope that the "colleagues" might have had that they are getting their acts together, singing from the same hymn sheet (even if it is Ode to Joy) seems to have been somewhat shattered by el presidente Barroso, who looks determined to do his own thing.

According to Ireland online the commission president is to host special "closed-door talks" with other EU leaders in Portugal next month on the EU constitution. Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen says Barroso is organising two-day talks to take place 12-13 May in Sintra, on the outskirts of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.

"The agenda is wide open, it's a brainstorming," she says, refusing at the same time to say whether all 27 EU leaders would be invited to the informal summit. Invites, she says, have been sent to "a limited number of participants".

So, if Frau Merkel has got the new treaty – or whatever – already sewn up, what does Barroso think he's playing at? And does that nice Mr Sarkozy know?

It is perhaps getting to the point where, rather than producing a new treaty, herding cats might be a better option.

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