Nice mark II is not likely to be better than Nice mark I

After almost two years of 'reflection' on the French and Dutch referendum results the European constitutional cauldron is now bubbling merrily as the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, busies herself in preparing an acceptable stew to serve at next month's summit of European Leaders.

As most of the issues to be discussed are hard and intractable it seems doubtful that three weeks of cooking will soften them sufficiently to be swallowed agreeably. Yet these issues were already clear in th...