Editorial: EU's now perilous tradition of procrastination

An analyst recently noted that by beginning to use natural gas as political leverage as of last August, Russian President Vladimir did Europe a great favour by offering it time to prepare.

If he had launched his blackmail once the very cold weather had set in, panicked European consumers would very likely pressure their leaders to back down.

One can also read history the opposite way - that because the cold season has not yet arrived, European governments believe that have plenty of time to keep discussing the issue until the last minute.

This is mandated by tradition. The South tables some proposals, but the north (which is to say Germany), says that those proposals are unjust or dysfunctional or not constructive, and decisions are postponed.

In fact, this time Berlin is even more provocative.

Even as it refuses to accept an EU-wide natural gas price ceiling and rejects the creation of a common EU fund to cover energy price hikes, Germany has passed a 200bn euro package to pay subsidies its own citizens and enterprises.

At an informal 7 October summit, European leaders agreed that they must reach an agreement, which they postponed until their next meeting, on 20-21 October.

A well-known cliché says that the EU takes decisions only after asphyxiating pressure.

The difference now, however, is that we have reached another level.

We are at war,