Judged by its primary yardstick, the health and prosperity of the European economy, this weekend's European Council at Stockholm was at best a limited success. While it clarified several crucial issues and reaffirmed the objective to make the EU the most competitive knowledge-based region in the developed world by 2010 progress was hardly sufficient to reassure nervous markets that the European economy can sufficiently take up the slack from the US and Japan. Foreign policy questions and the foot-and-mouth crisis were as prominent as economic reform on its agenda.
That agenda was pushed forward by a welcome breakthrough on the creation of a single market for financial services and risk capital, which will make it easier for companies to raise money. But without agreement on the liberalisation of gas, electricity or postal services or the creation of an EU open skies framework the summit sends mixed signals to the markets. As is customary these will require further negotiation, but using procedures that should make it easier to agree. Those expecting dramatic breakthroughs will be disappointed; but they should be aware that the steady accumulation of reforms in an emerging continental market shortly to have a fully functioning single currency was always going to be relatively slow and laborious.
There is solid news of an average 3.5 per cent growth and the creation of 2.5 million jobs - and general satisfaction that the economic fundamentals are strengthening in the fourth successive year of recovery. The commitment to social cohesion and the European social model was strongly reaffirmed and associated with the benchmarking process of comparing best practice across the economies and welfare states of the 15 member-states and the 13 states seeking accession.
Pressing foreign policy issues bore down on the Stockholm summit, demonstrating that the EU is becoming a more important player on the world scene. The crisis in Macedonia topped the list. The all-out assault on Albanian rebels launched this weekend by the Macedonian government will further polarise inter-ethnic relations there, making it more difficult for an essential agenda of reforms to be implemented. The EU's policy of combining support for Macedonia's territorial integrity with strong pressure in favour of political dialogue will require the most determined approach if it is to succeed.
President Putin of Russia advised the summit to support the same kind of repressive policy towards the Albanian rebels as he has used against Chechnya. He may have had more influence on the Macedonian government than on EU policy, with consequences this week's events will rapidly reveal. The summit staked out a distinctive EU policy towards Korea, supporting the dialogue on normalisation there. It reaffirmed support for the Middle East peace process and for the Kyoto climate change objectives. In each case a distinctive approach is emerging, in contrast to that of the new US administration.
The summit was able to offer little in the way of extra resources to tackle the foot-and-mouth emergency, beyond expressing its solidarity and determination to handle it effectively by common veterinary regulation. It falls largely to national governments to put the necessary preventative measures in place.