Hurrah for an end to EU navel gazing

European leaders will open negotiations on a new EU 'reform treaty' on 23 July 2007. At a cliffhanger summit last weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel worked hard to accommodate national concerns that threaten to derail the new treaty. These include British concerns over its potential impact on labour law and Poland's deep dislike of a proposed new EU voting system. Other countries also demanded, and got, concessions and clarifications added to the summit's complicated, and barely readable, negotiating mandate.