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In the basement of a big Brussels office block plumbers are hard at work hammering and drilling away, replacing the old metal pipes with brand new plastic ones. But the boss of Maintenance et Multiservice, Jacques De Meester, is fairly gloomy about the outlook next year.

"For 2009, companies from the construction sector still have busy order books but we are expecting a slowdown. We're already seeing the first signs of it. The architects are being told by their clients that they are not going ahead with projects or they are going to wait a bit before making a decision. This will have an impact on us."

Who should help? He gives an answer that I guess no one running a small business in Britain would dream of.

"Europe can help us. In most European Union countries we have a European spirit. Most laws are now made on a European level, so it's their responsibility to help us to get out of this crisis. We no longer live in closed countries; we live in Europe, that's an important message."

The European Commission, under instructions from the prime ministers and presidents of the EU's nations, has come up with an economic recovery plan.

There'll be more immediate money for some of the big EU-funded projects, under schemes curiously codenamed Jeremy and Jessica, but that is not the centre-piece.

The commission will urge the EU's 27 governments to make tax cuts particularly in VAT, to encourage energy efficiency and to bring down labour costs. They will exhort countries to spend more, investing in construction, helping carmakers, and installing broadband in new buildings.

This may be simply what is right. But it is also because the commission can't get agreement on very much more. Germany doesn't want to end up paying for those who've been less prudent. Eastern European countries can't afford to do much. Britain has already acted, although along the lines suggested. Some insiders think the commission is just making the best of a bad job and the package is pretty meaningless.

I've got a feeling that in the old days central EU spending would be seen as the main way of stimulating the EU economy.

Instead they are coordinating, exhorting, and - if the EU leaders agree to the plan at their December summit - making sure they keep up to the mark.

They stress that they are offering a tool box and it is up to governments to pick the instruments they choose. But can 27 plumbers, with different tools, fix a leak?

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