Mr Cardoso owes his re-election not just to his defeat of inflation, but to his getting Congress to undo a constitutional ban on a second, consecutive term for holders of executive posts.
Assuming the Irish vote in favour, the next step on the EU agenda is a big summit of all EU heads of government on October 29th and 30th, chaired by Sweden, which is expected to propose selecting the holders of two new posts created by Lisbon.