In Belgium the linguistic division has become so firmly established that the French and Flemish-speaking communities have almost nothing to do with each other and refuse to compromise.
The European Council is a rough, swaggering sort of grouping. It operates not by finding cosy consensus, but by reaching grubby compromise after lots of camp-forming, bribery and bullying.
The nanny test proves my friend to be a woman who finds imaginative solutions to problems, who is clear about priorities and who knows how to compromise.
Delegates said a compromise could still be reached by the end of the talks on Friday evening that would set a path towards the end-of-year summit in Durban.