But this change is not going to mean much to the critics who say the government - and the Independent Banking Commission - should have opted for absolute separation from the start.

BBC: UK banking reforms: What's new?

The Commission said that seven years should be the absolute maximum for such restrictions to remain in force and that they must be "proportionate".

BBC: EU chides UK over migrant workers from Eastern Europe

The new Lisbon Treaty raises the threshold for approving a new commission from a simple majority of MEPs present, to an absolute majority, ie, more than half of all MEPs must approve each new college of commissioners.

ECONOMIST: European politics