Vilnius - the Verheugen solution?

Here's an elegant solution to an embarrassing mess. Attentive readers will recall that Günter Verheugen, Germany's European commissioner, is not having a relationship with Petra Erler, his head of cabinet. German centre-right MEP Markus Ferber has made unfavourable comparisons between Verheugen and Paul Wolfowitz, who resigned from the presidency of the World Bank over favouritism towards his girlfriend who was moved to another job. Ferber is unfair on the World Bank, which at least had procedures in place to ensure that Wolfowitz's girlfriend was moved. The Commission has none – but fortunately does not need them. If Erler were to look for another job, how about heading the European Institute for Gender Equality? Its home is to be Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where Verheugen and Erler were photographed together on a nudist beach last summer.