Russia, Italy in an ever closer union?

When the European Council - the leaders of the states in the EU - gathered last week, they mostly agreed to postpone more constitution talks, and agreed to disagree on some other issues. Not much content, not much accomplished.

But as Romano Prodi visits Moscow this week, reports the BBC, Italy and Russia are discussing cooperation of two types: energy and defense.

Examples like this show the need for the EU to get serious about a common foreign and security policy - or ditch the idea altogether. The UK is already best buds with the United States in the Joint Strike Fighter program, and now Italy is flirting with Russia. Clearly, member states are looking elsewhere.

But can the EU handle it? With Euroskepticism bubbling over in the UK in particular, perhaps the EU should give it up. If the value of Rapid Reaction Forces can be shown to be worth the cost (both monetary and in terms of sovereignty), the UK and other states might be more on board. But the EU has been so slow and visionless on the issue in the past few years that states might lose whatever faith they once had in the CFSP.