The European Union’s 15 governments have decided to see if they can form a pool to insure airlines against terrorist attack. The European Commission has already agreed to allow member governments to extend third-party liability cover until the end of next month, bringing the EU’s post-September 11 action into line with the US.

But any new pool is likely to be a long time arriving. Some of the EU’s political and policy hurdles are very high, and it may be months before an agreement on details can be thrashed out. In the meantime, individual governments will presumably be given permission to extend their own individual terrorism cover deals with national airlines.