The European Commissioner responsible for external relations, Chris Patten has initiated the debate on the demands, constraints and priorities of the EU's policy in this field. He has done so in a succinct paper (which he drew up himself without passing through drafts prepared by the services) which he has forwarded to the College urging it to engage in a policy debate. The Commission will do so in one of its forthcoming meetings (see our daily bulletin of 8 June, p.7).
The tone of the...