Speaking rights at the UN

Lady Ashton, now known as Catherine Ashton the High Panjandrum of the EU Common Foreign Policy will definitely have speaking rights at the UN so there will no longer be the embarrassment of the EU's point of view being delivered by the representative of the rotating presidency, which, at the moment, is Belgium. What the good lady will say is, of course, a matter of some doubt. After all, it is not as if the EU actually had a policy.

That, however, does not matter. The EU is proceeding along its usual path: building up structures in the hopes that content will follow. So far, this has not worked with foreign policy, that being the last thing most governments will give up. This may be a small step in terms of real policy but a big step in terms of the Monnet method.