EU on the sidelines
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The White House announced today that President Obama will meet EU leaders in November. It is hoped this will smooth the transatlantic feathers ruffled when he pulled out of May's summit, but there are concerns that this Lisbon meeting risks taking a backseat to the NATO summit that precedes it.
The US president will meet EU president Herman van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso in Lisbon on 20 November.
While the EU's leaders issued a statement welcoming the agreement of "a mutually convenient date and venue", for many seasoned Brussels-watchers the location seemed a little odd.
Such top-level summits usually take place either in Brussels or in the country holding the rotating bloc's presidency - this time round also Belgium.
But, perhaps tellingly for transatlantic relations, this tete-a-tete will take place in the Portuguese capital, because President Obama will already be in town for the NATO summit on 19-20 November.
Since he took office the US leader has been repeatedly accused of ignoring relations with the EU - especially when he pulled out of May's US-EU summit in Spain.
So, while for some the fact a meeting will be taking place is a positive sign for ties with Brussels, for others the idea that it is only on the sidelines of another summit still leaves something of a bitter taste.
