Some say that they are doomed to fail so long as the Commission is denied the sole right of initiative and is unable to drive policy from the centre. Others say that this co-operation will be ineffective because of the unanimity principle; the convoys will be forced to move at the pace of the slowest. I do not accept these arguments; indeed, the facts belie them. Giving the Commission sole right of initiative on foreign policy etc is just not realistic. Instead of preventing those with expertise from making proposals, we should be making it easier for them to do so.In foreign policy co-operation, for example, the occasions when we cannot reach agreement are the exception; even on potentially sensitive and difficult issues such as relations with Ukraine we are successfully forging joint policies. It is quite unrealistic to envisage majority-voting arrangements applying to an issue like Bosnia, where some member states have troops on the ground and some have particular security concerns.WOULD parliaments or public opinion in member states accept their governments being outvoted on foreign policy issues such as these? The notion that somehow Bosnia would have been saved if there had been majority voting in our common foreign and security policy is fanciful. Applying Community procedures to these areas would not be a mechanism for quicker and better policy decisions.

On the contrary, it would encourage attempts to override important national interests, engendering dissatisfaction and disunity.The new treaty procedures for CFSP and justice and home affairs have been in place only a few months. There have already been successful joint actions in important areas, on Russia, South Africa, humanitarian relief in Bosnia and the Middle East. But to expect CFSP, after six months, to have, for example, resolved the enmities of centuries in former Yugos1avia is to ask the impossible.In the longer term, the EU should consider what its priorities for CFSP will be. In my view, the most important aim is to bring stability and security to our neighbouring regions: central and eastern Europe (excluding the Balkans), North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.