Commission top of the pops

Pascal Lamy, French trade commissioner, has topped a ranking list of the 20 European commissioners drawn up by influential Brussels journalists.

Despite the failure of the WTO trade talks in Cancun, Mr Lamy heads the list - compiled by French business weekly L'Expansion - for the second consecutive year. One anoynmous journalist wrote that Mr Lamy is "the best, as ever".

Mr Lamy is joined on the "podium" by Mr Fischler (Agriculture) and Mr Verheugen (Enlargement). The former is ...