The appointment of a senior British cabinet minister as minister for Europe, in the shape of Geoff Hoon, looks on the surface as if it might finally put the co-ordination of European Union policy in a more prominent place in UK government policy-making.

The reality is much will depend on the personality of Mr Hoon, the manner in which he does the job, and the lines of communication he has to Tony Blair, the prime minister, and Margaret Beckett, the new foreign secretary.