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Fredrik Reinfeldt a dû l'admettre, vendredi 3 juillet, à l'issue de sa rencontre à Stockholm avec Nicolas Sarkozy : il ne sera pas possible de convaincre le Parlement européen de soutenir dès juillet la reconduction de José Manuel Barroso à la tête de la Commission européenne. "On ne prendra pas de décision sur M. Barroso au mois de juillet mais nous espérons que cette décision sera prise plus tard", a indiqué le premier ministre suédois, dont le pays assure la présidence de l'Union ce semestre.

En début de semaine, M. Barroso espérait encore un vote à la mi-juillet, lors de la session inaugurale du Parlement européen. Sa reconduction a été informellement approuvée par le Conseil européen, le 18 juin

En dépit des réserves "juridiques" de Paris et de Berlin, José Manuel Barroso espère que chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement des Vingt-sept le désigneront formellement dès le Conseil européen des 18 et 19 juin, à Bruxelles.

Les réserves française et allemande. Nicolas Sarkozy et Angela Merkel ont de fortes réserves sur le calendrier défendu par le PPE et son candidat. Paris veut temporiser en attendant la ratification définitive du traité de Lisbonne.

"We would not want the Eastern Partnership to turn into partnership against Russia. There are various examples," Mr Mevedev told a news conference at the end of the summit.

Moscow has accused the 27-member bloc of creating new dividing lines in Europe by offering closer ties to six former Soviet republics. The Eastern Partnership Initiative aims to forge close political and economic ties in exchange for democratic reforms. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine have signed up to the initiative, which seeks to bolster stability in the region. However it does not offer the prospect of eventual EU membership.

Russia supplies more than a quarter of EU gas needs. Its decision to cut all gas to Ukraine - a vital transit country - meant that many EU member states also lost their supplies of gas for two weeks in January. Speaking in Khabarovsk, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned there should be no more disruptions to gas supplies from Russia.

A number of eurocrats will soon form part of an EU diplomatic corps, if European Commission President Jose Manual Barroso has anything to say about it. He's looking forward to the day when the Lisbon Treaty comes into effect -- and the EU has to build embassies.

Hundreds of bureaucrats at Barroso's European Commission, the EU's executive body, are being educated in the diplomatic arts, taking courses at universities and international academies on "Political Analysis" and "Handling the Media" to prepare for a new role that would be created under the imperilled Lisbon Treaty. Among the key provisions of the treaty is the creation of a European External Action Service and the appointment of a "foreign minister," though the title has been renamed as the "high representative of the Union," as well as an EU president. The idea is to groom an EU diplomatic service so it can start its work the day the treaty -- once known, and rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands, as the "EU constitution" -- goes into effect.

If Lisbon is ratified, it would elevate the more than 150 EU representative offices around the world to the level of embassies and consulates. The EU is also moving in advance to insure it has the space it needs. In London, EU emissaries are moving into office building on Smith Square purchased for €27 million.