At the same time, the new high representative for foreign and security policy, Catherine Ashton, has made barely a ripple. She has concentrated on replacing her staff and negotiating with the European Parliament and nations over the shape and personnel of the new External Action Service, a European Union diplomatic corps intended to supplement and coordinate, but not replace, national diplomats. The service, which could end up with about 5,000 diplomats, will incorporate current overseas representatives of the commission, who are maneuvering to keep their posts.

Mr. Barroso, however, has already created waves by appointing his former chief of staff, a fellow Portuguese, João Vale de Almeida, to the new European Embassy in Washington, one of the most prominent posts to be filled in addition to those in Moscow and Beijing, without consulting member states.

Ms. Ashton, too, is trying to manage the French-German gap, looking to the current French ambassador in Washington, Pierre Vimont, as the most likely executive director of the new service, with a German deputy, perhaps Helga-Maria Schmid, who runs the policy unit of the council’s secretariat.

But while the Europeans are slowly constructing these new institutions and bureaucrats are struggling for dominance within them, the French-German divide remains deep, European and national diplomats say.

Mr. Sarkozy and Ms. Merkel know they must cooperate if Europe is to function, and their staffs and ministries work hard to coordinate. Franco-German agreement is “necessary but not sufficient,” as Mr. Barroso said in an interview here.

Image Herman Van Rompuy, left, the European Council president, has worked hard to be a discreet and calming intermediary, European officials say. Credit... Matthew Busch/Associated Press

At each crisis, usually after German hesitation, the two have found a compromise, as they did at the last summit meeting in mid-June. But both leaders are increasingly unpopular, with Mr. Sarkozy battling ministerial scandals and Mrs. Merkel just managing to force through her choice for the ceremonial German presidency.