It is no accident that the European Council has decided that the “technical work” on the implementation of the institutional provisions of the Lisbon Treaty will “start in Brussels in January on the basis of a work programme which will be presented under the authority of the incoming president of the European Council”, i.e. the prime minister of Slovenia (paragraph 4 of the conclusions of 14 December, see our Special Edition of 16 December). In saying this, the heads of state and...