Brussels meeting: Tomorrow's meeting of EU leaders in Brussels was planned as an economic summit aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Europe's economy. But the imminent war in Iraq has transformed it into a crisis meeting at which the leaders will struggle to salvage what they can from the wreckage of Europe's common foreign and security policy.
Greece, which holds the EU presidency, is determined that the summit should go ahead but diplomats suggested yesterday that it could be curtailed.
A meeting of leaders of small EU states due to take place this evening has been cancelled and a briefing on the Convention on the Future of Europe by its president, Mr Valery Giscard d'Estaing, has been dropped from the main summit agenda.
The EU's divisions over Iraq are complex, representing a spectrum of opinion rather than a straightforward split between pro and anti-war camps. The European public is united, however, in its clear opposition to war against Iraq.
The governments of Germany, France and Belgium are the firmest EU opponents of war but Sweden, Finland, Austria and Luxembourg also oppose an attack on Iraq without explicit authorisation by the United Nations.
On the other side of the debate, Britain and Spain are the most enthusiastic supporters of Washington's policy but as Sunday's meeting in the Azores showed, Portugal also supports war.
Portugal's prime minister, Mr Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, is likely to survive a censure motion in parliament condemning his support for the US.
But Portuguese public opinion is concerned about the effect of Lisbon's stance on its relations with Paris and Berlin.
Italy was initially a firm supporter of the US stance but the Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, has softened his tone in recent weeks, not least because of the influence Pope John Paul II's opposition to war has had on Italy's public and political opinion.
Political analysts believe Mr Berlusconi is unable to secure a majority in parliament in favour of war. Denmark's Prime Minister, Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen, was among the EU leaders who signed a letter in January in support of Washington and in opposition to the Franco-German approach to the crisis.
Denmark has sent a small military contingent to support the western troop build-up in the Gulf but Mr Rasmussen has made few public statements on the issue in recent weeks.
The Dutch prime minister, Mr Jan-Peter Balkenende, backs Washington but his prospective coalition partners oppose war. The Netherlands has adopted a low profile in the debate.