Despite a bruising start, and serious speculation that she might quit, Catherine Ashton has survived her first six months as the EU's foreign-policy chief. And finally the extended court of Queen Ashton is starting to take shape. Following a vote in July in the European parliament, the EU's new diplomatic corps can start taking its first baby steps. Even though it still does not have a budget (that has to be agreed with the parliament in the autumn) the European "external action service" will start advertising its top posts. There will now be a gruelling selection process in which the key candidates can be grilled in a relentless quest for the best-qualified and most highly motivated individuals. Except, of course, that the decisions on the highest posts have basically been taken. Barring a diplomatic earthquake Pierre Vimont, the French ambassador to Washington, will head the service. The soft-spoken, astute Vimont is experienced in the ways of the world and—more importantly—those of Brussels. He was almost the only senior French figure to emerge from his country's presidency of the EU in 2000 with his reputation intact. While most of the country's political leaders exhibited l'arrogance de la France in spades during a six-month spell notable for some chaotic and high-handed treaty negotiations, Vimont managed to stay popular with his fellow EU ambassadors. Germany will not be overlooked either, and one of Vimont's deputies should be Helga Schmid, a bright senior official and director in the council. To the chagrin of some smaller countries, a third top post could go to Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Poland's minister for European affairs. If this happens it will be a meteoric rise for Dowgielewicz, who not long ago was spokesman for the former Swedish commissioner Margot Wallstroem during her anonymous second term in Brussels. There is, however, opposition from some who think the talented Pole too young and inexperienced. The logic of having Germany, Britain, France and Poland—the EU's most influential foreign-policy powers—at the heart of the new service is irrefutable to most. The quest is on for another top official to help manage the service. Ashton's preference is for David O'Sullivan, the director general for trade, but it's unclear whether the Irishman—who has held most of the senior posts in the commission—will deem the job prestigious enough. It looks like Robert Cooper, the cerebral foreign-policy guru who worked for Tony Blair and Ashton's predecessor, Javier Solana, will stay despite uncertainty over whether he wants to. Cooper is influential with Ashton and a top job will emerge—though one that allows him to think rather than manage. Green around the gills As flag bearers in the battle against global warming, European commissioners know their behaviour is under scrutiny—especially when it comes to the cars they drive. But Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission, has never managed to square his heroic rhetoric on climate change with his wife's desire for an ostentatious four-wheel drive VW Touareg. His choice of wheels looked even worse when the last European environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, extended his brief to the inner sanctum of commission life: the carpool. Dimas made himself exceptionally unpopular with his colleagues by rejecting the luxury vehicles driven by other commissioners and opting for a Toyota Prius. But does the fight to save the planet still take priority over top-of-the-range suspension? The new commissioner for climate change, Denmark's Connie Hedegaard, may cycle to work but has also opted to use one of the traditional commission favourites: a BMW. Aware that this may be a controversial decision, Hedegaard has chosen a 5 series rather than the bigger, gas-guzzling versions driven by most of her colleagues. She insists this does not make her less environmentally conscious than her predecessor—it's just that, apparently, working in the back of a Prius makes her carsick. Crash and learn It's amazing what a near-death experience will do to you. Nigel Farage, the former leader of Ukip, is back in Brussels after his election-day crash in a light aircraft and his failure to be elected to the mother of parliaments. Amazingly Farage was able to walk away from the crumpled wreckage of his plane, which crash-landed after the Ukip banner it was towing became entwined in the aircraft engine. Farage was convinced he would die on impact, or at least be paralysed. So ending up alive and well can't be all that bad, even if it does mean being back in Brussels. Since his return he has had a message of support from Barroso and even a warm exchange with council president Herman Van Rompuy, whom Farage famously compared to a "damp rag" in what proved a rare YouTube hit for the European parliament. So much goodwill has broken out that some suspected the crash had turned Farage into an EU-loving softie, but fortunately he's found something new to fulminate about: the salaries of Eurocrats, around 1,000 of whom earn more than David Cameron. Meanwhile his robust response to a charity parachute jump invitation shows us the old bite is still there.
