Since 8 January, Europeans have expressed their dissatisfaction with a possible decision by US President Donald Trump to downgrade the diplomatic status of the EU mission in Washington from Member State to international organisation. The US decision was reportedly taken at the end of 2018, but the European External Action Service spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said that the EU had not been informed.
This decision has not yet been officially confirmed at the time of our closure. When questioned by EUROPE, the spokesman of the American mission to the EU had no information on the subject.
"We are dismayed by the alleged US decision to downgrade the diplomatic status of the EU delegation", said Udo Bullmann, Chairman of the S&D Group in the European Parliament, on Wednesday 9 January.
The day before, the spokeswoman of the European External Action Service, Maja Kocijancic, had reported on contacts between the EU and the United States on this subject. "We understand that there was a recent change in the way the diplomatic precedence list is implemented by the United States’ protocol, and we are currently discussing with the relevant departments of the American administration the possible repercussions for the European delegation to the United States", she said, while specifying that "the EU is an international organisation". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)