Quite why the British are worried about being bulldozed into a federal Europe is a puzzle. After all, it has taken them all 27 years of their membership to reach agreement with their European colleagues over a simple thing like what can and cannot be labelled chocolate.

This week, eventually, a compromise was reached. Milk chocolate can now be sold throughout the EU as long as it is clearly labelled "Family Milk Chocolate". The resolution of the row was a blow to the prestige of the Belgian and French chocolate industry, which questioned whether milk chocolate could be termed chocolate at all.

More to the point is whether a group which takes 27 years to resolve a dispute on such a minor issue can have any future as a true European Union, tackling fundamental internal cultural contradictions as well as growing into its role as one of the world's key trading blocs.

Dominic Coyle can be contacted at dcoyle@irish-times.ie