Barack Obama’s European tour has confirmed that the new US president is admired as much abroad as at home. His diplomacy builds on this appeal. He came to listen not to lecture, he told Europe’s leaders last week, giving every sign he meant it. He is the kind of US president that Europe has longed for. Yet after the Group of 20 and Nato summits, what does this European model of a US president have to show for his efforts? Rave reviews and words of friendship – but of substance all too little.

The G20 failed to agree on what the US sought above all, namely stronger fiscal expansion. Its communiqué blended measures already announced and commitments to do the right thing. As far as promising to maintain liberal trade and keep markets open is concerned, the same commitments were made last November and promptly broken.