Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.

When Barroso, the former Portuguese prime minister, was awarded the EU post by his fellow heads of government, he appeared to be a dynamic new broom who would sweep away the cobwebs left by his predecessor, Italy s Romano Prodi. But, with the passage of time, the Barroso led Commission has also come under fire for being unadventurous and lacklustre.