Recovery has been much slower and much more uneven than most forecasts had suggested at the beginning of this year, and opinion polls during the election showed that economic worries at home preoccupy Americans more than the prospect of war with Iraq.

ECONOMIST: Bush triumphs | The

With Europe's populations weary of the constitutional navel-gazing and foreign policy grandstanding which seems to preoccupy their leaders so often, the Barcelona meeting is a chance to demonstrate their concern with bread-and-butter issues like jobs.

CNN: European leaders