Never a dull moment for Juncker

Date: 11/12/1997

There is at least one Union politician who is bound to be heartily glad when Luxembourg's EU presidency stint draws to a close at the end of the month - the country's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.

Juncker could be forgiven for seeming just a bit jaded as he hosts this weekend's European summit. In the past week, he must have clocked up enough air miles carrying out his Union presidency duties to travel several times around the world.

After a visit to Madrid last Wednesday, he returned only briefly to Luxembourg for a debate on the Grand Duchy's budget for next year before jetting off the following day to Ottawa for the EU-Canada summit, then on to Washington for the American leg of the transatlantic summit on Friday.

On Saturday, he embarked on a European capital-hopping tour taking in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Dublin, and - after drawing breath on Sunday and Monday - he packed his bags again for visits to London, Bonn and Paris on Tuesday, and Athens and Vienna yesterday (10 December).