Developing joint policies is a slow and difficult job

"The Lisbon treaty has triggered a huge degree of turf warfare between the European Commission and the External Action Service," says Thomas Valasek of the CER. "José Manuel Barroso, the commission president sees the EAS as something that needs to be fought rather than something that needs to be worked with. ... Europe's reputation has taken a massive battering in the past two years ... Its members are not seen to have managed the crisis well. They are seen as bickering and selfish and that has damaged Europe's reputation as a haven of responsibility and stability. It is not an attractive model and that is becoming a burden on the EU's ability to shape its neighbourhood."