Time for a threesome: European leadership and America

Much to the displeasure of Europe's smaller countries, trilateral meetings of the European Union's 'Big Three'- Britain,France and Germany - occur with increasing frequency. In fact, an informal triple leadrship has emerged. The collapse of the European constitution project at the November Rome summit and the imminent admission of ten new members has focused minds in Paris and Berlin. Regular Franco-German meetings developed in the early years of the European Economic Community in the 1950s, but Britain's presence in Europe's most exclusive club is a more recent development.