In the spotlight: Angela Merkel

For Angela Merkel, who is troubled at home with healthcare system reform, an achievement in foreign policy would be a major boost. However, the last week prior to the EU summit failed to provide a breakthrough in negotiations on an EU treaty which would replace the failed EU draft constitution, as Merkel's hopes of adopting a negotiation agenda for the treaty was crashing against a Polish wall of opposition. Her meetings with President Lech Kaczyński on the Saturday before the summit, as well as on the first day of the summit, failed to break the deadlock.

The fact that Merkel had so many difficulties with Poland is in contrast to her previous relations with Polish politicians. Merkel is viewed as having more understanding for Polish sensitivity than her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder. Her upbringing is often credited for her understanding of CEE affairs. Although born in the West German city of Hamburg, Merkel grew up in the former East Germany where her father was a pastor. She studied physics and holds a doctorate in physical chemistry. She was a deputy spokesperson for the first freely elected, caretaker pre-unification government of East Germany. A member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) since 1990, in 2000 she became the party's chairperson, before heading the CDU/CSU parliamentary group between 2002-2005. After CDU won the elections of November 2005, she took over as the first female Chancellor of Germany.