With Europe’s economic and monetary union in a spin, it is a good time to ask what the new Lisbon treaty can do to help. In institutional terms, the most relevant innovation is the creation of the post of standing presidency of the European Council and the appointment to it of Herman van Rompuy.

Full-body scanners are coming to UK airports – but how can we safeguard privacy during the capture of 'naked' images?

Like it or not, the European Union cannot work without the European Commission. And it never works well unless the Commission is strong.

As the European parliament prepares for January's public hearings on President José Manuel Barroso's second Commission, the chief interest lies in the new post given to the UK's Catherine Ashton. The role is often dubbed ‘double-hatted' but as more people begin to read the Lisbon treaty a rather different, and more complex, picture emerges.