We waited until we were in Full Crisis and there was no more elbow room for choosing the method or choosing the amount.

Because in housing there is a lag between cause and effect - this year's starts are 1982/3's completions - the Full Crisis has not yet hit us.

Similarly, Community member States and other countries within the International Energy Authority have acknowledged a need for additional measures to alleviate the problems that might arise if there were problems with oil supplies that fell short of a Full Crisis.

That, of course, includes rapid access to the EU budget to fund, for example, a civilian fact finding mission after a peace agreement has been signed; or rapid initial civilian deployments that could prepare the ground for a Full Crisis management mission.