Glossy images
There is nothing so serious that a positive gloss cannot be placed upon it, and as war unfolds, the European Commission is already seeking to turn deep political divisions in the European Union into a force for good.
The commissioner in charge of external relations policy, Chris Patten, is optimistic that the immensely damaging splits among EU nations over Iraq will inject a bit of "humility" into the larger countries - he means the UK and France.
He believes that both sides will be so shocked by the sheer scale and ferocity of the continuing dispute over Iraqi tactics that they will ultimately rush into a much closer common foreign policy than they ever would have done.
And Commission President Romano Prodi has despatched a letter to all EU leaders saying: "The situation is grim, and we need to study the root causes if we are to bridge the divide and turn this crisis into a springboard for the union."
It is not a springboard anyone is ready to risk standing on just yet. The diplomatic damage in Europe is such that a senior diplomat said frankly: "This is the most serious set of foreign policy differences the EU has ever had."
But the long-term effects will depend on the willingness or otherwise of the key players to sink their differences and resume normal, less bruising hostilities over things like milk quotas and environmental health standards.
Funny enough, the Italians were moaning about milk quotas as the tanks began to roll at the end of last week, and threatening to hold up 13 years of efforts to agree on an EU-wide tax on savings interest.
In the midst of military action, it was also so comfortingly crazy and banal, blatant blackmail by Rome to get reduced fines for breaching EU milk production limits in return for an agreement on the savings tax deal that everyone else wants so badly. It was a sign that, at some level, the normal world is still turning, and that is now the message that everyone is trying to convey.
"It doesn't feel like business as usual, but at the same time there is a determination to show that the goals that the EU has will still be pursued," said a senior British diplomat in Brussels.
Which is why, in the midst of the continuing fury over the total breakdown of the diplomatic process over disarming Saddam Hussein, EU leaders have still been able to agree, quite civilly, that the EU's targets for economic growth and increased employment remain the same.
And that, however bad the dispute becomes over Iraq - and it could yet worsen - the EU's enlargement schedule will not be disrupted, and the convention discussing Europe's future will continue its work and attempt to finish on time in June.
"The world keeps turning - that is the message for the market-moving business community across Europe and for ordinary European citizens," my high-flying diplomat said.
The fact that the movers and shakers in Brussels now feel the need to speak to journalists in such terms shows just how bad things have become.
Geoff Meade is the European Union editor of the Press Association.
The commissioner in charge of external relations policy, Chris Patten, is optimistic that the immensely damaging splits among EU nations over Iraq will inject a bit of "humility" into the larger countries - he means the UK and France.
He believes that both sides will be so shocked by the sheer scale and ferocity of the continuing dispute over Iraqi tactics that they will ultimately rush into a much closer common foreign policy than they ever would have done.
And Commission President Romano Prodi has despatched a letter to all EU leaders saying: "The situation is grim, and we need to study the root causes if we are to bridge the divide and turn this crisis into a springboard for the union."
It is not a springboard anyone is ready to risk standing on just yet. The diplomatic damage in Europe is such that a senior diplomat said frankly: "This is the most serious set of foreign policy differences the EU has ever had."
But the long-term effects will depend on the willingness or otherwise of the key players to sink their differences and resume normal, less bruising hostilities over things like milk quotas and environmental health standards.
Funny enough, the Italians were moaning about milk quotas as the tanks began to roll at the end of last week, and threatening to hold up 13 years of efforts to agree on an EU-wide tax on savings interest.
In the midst of military action, it was also so comfortingly crazy and banal, blatant blackmail by Rome to get reduced fines for breaching EU milk production limits in return for an agreement on the savings tax deal that everyone else wants so badly. It was a sign that, at some level, the normal world is still turning, and that is now the message that everyone is trying to convey.
"It doesn't feel like business as usual, but at the same time there is a determination to show that the goals that the EU has will still be pursued," said a senior British diplomat in Brussels.
Which is why, in the midst of the continuing fury over the total breakdown of the diplomatic process over disarming Saddam Hussein, EU leaders have still been able to agree, quite civilly, that the EU's targets for economic growth and increased employment remain the same.
And that, however bad the dispute becomes over Iraq - and it could yet worsen - the EU's enlargement schedule will not be disrupted, and the convention discussing Europe's future will continue its work and attempt to finish on time in June.
"The world keeps turning - that is the message for the market-moving business community across Europe and for ordinary European citizens," my high-flying diplomat said.
The fact that the movers and shakers in Brussels now feel the need to speak to journalists in such terms shows just how bad things have become.
Geoff Meade is the European Union editor of the Press Association.
