Arguments on these items will run, higgledy-piggledy, through the conference's ten months or so.

ECONOMIST: The Union pauses for breath

Many live in ramshackle ghettos, or in crude huts clustered higgledy-piggledy near the Tatra mountains.

ECONOMIST: Slovaks v Czechs on gypsies

Dingy wallpaper and junk piled higgledy-piggledy are out, bright lighting and neat displays are in.

ECONOMIST: Charity shops

Alight at Dalkey, where higgledy-piggledy streets lined with small boutiques, cafes and shops climb into the surroundings.

BBC: Day trips from Dublin

While New York has its grid system and Paris its grands boulevards, London has evolved in a higgledy-piggledy fashion.

ECONOMIST: London uncovered | The

Flat land is at a premium, and orchards are planted pragmatically, stepping higgledy-piggledy uphill or weaving a line along thin terraces cut into the hillsides.

BBC: Apple harvest in the Himalayan foothills

EU's constitution, for one, has grown higgledy-piggledy, through a series of treaties in which national politicians have ceded sovereignty without ever quite admitting it to themselves, let alone their electorates.

ECONOMIST: Beyond Berlin

The Casa de la Memoria de Al-Andalus (the House of Al-Andalus Memories) encased in a former Sephardic Jewish mansion in the higgledy-piggledy Santa Cruz quarter, has garnered an excellent reputation in recent years for its heavy Baroque atmosphere and skilful musicians who are not afraid to improvise.

BBC: Seville��s legendary flamenco scene