When Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, took over the chair of the European Council on January 1, she was anxious not to raise any exaggerated expectations about what she could achieve in the six-month presidency of the European Union. She was also determined to give some sense of purpose back to the EU, after nearly two years of “pausing for reflection” following the Dutch and French No votes to the EU constitutional treaty.

It is still early days to reach a judgment, but partly through luck and partly through sensible pragmatism, the chancellor seems to be getting her way, and presiding over a distinct lightening of Europe’s recent gloom.