OF the two main events occurring in Berlin yesterday, probably the escaped bull provoked less alarm. The reaction to the hapless beast that ran amok on a motorway was as nothing compared to the consternation which greeted the meeting of Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder. Although the big three later attempted to cool tempers by billing their gathering as a mere

tidying-up exercise on economic competitiveness, there was no disguising the major political upset caused.

Admittedly, after the ill-will caused by Iraq and the failure to push forward on a European constitution, it does not take much for the red mist to descend on the rainbow coalition that is the soon-to-be-enlarged EU. Even so, the strength of enmity among those not invited to Berlin was remarkable. Poland complained of being shut out before it had even entered, and existing EU members worried they were being relegated to the second division. Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, accused the big three of creating ''a big mess''. Little wonder Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, had to begin the day by engaging in telephone dip-lomacy with his Italian, Spanish and Polish counterparts.

Why should the Berlin meeting arouse such suspicion? The EU is, after all, built on shifting alliances. The

Franco-German axis is long established, and Britain is not averse to entering into partnerships when it suits. But the switch from several marriages of convenience to a single menage a trois has provoked intense jealousy, and not without cause. Britain, France and Germany wield enormous clout. The trio's GDP exceeds that of all the other EU countries combined. On defence spending, population and voting strength, they punch at the highest weight. Although it would not be difficult for them to

dictate the entire EU agenda, it would be extremely unwise.

What concerns those nations outside the triumvirate is not what was said at the official summit (so far apart are the three on economic reform that it would be difficult to see them agreeing on a single way forward), but what went on last night over dinner. It is here, critics fear, that the real carve-up took place on matters such as the EU constitution and the new commission president. If that was indeed the case, those nations not at the table have every right to complain. As the EU grows it should strive to be more democratic and accountable, not less so. It may enhance the domestic reputations of Messrs Blair, Chirac and Schroeder to hold court in Berlin, but the wider cause of European harmony requires the EU to go forward as one. If the democratic whole is to flourish, the days of the big two, or even the big three, must be numbered.