Brussels, 26/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - The transatlantic Summit of 2 May will be placed under the sign of appeasement, détente even. In a particularly heavy context regarding both trade and politics, the Europeans and Americans are prepared to show solidarity in Washington, as well as authenticity in their partnership, despite the inevitable quarrels in such a united couple, that they manage "constructively" and that do not have the negative impact that the media would have us believe. In a climate that will no doubt remind observers of the one that prevailed following 11 September - to which the good relationship between Messrs, Bush and Aznar will doubtless contribute - the Union and the United States will highlight the many things they have in common and their success, taking advantage of this promising atmosphere to extend even further the field of economic and political co-operation that is already very close and which, on the whole, "functions incredibly well". Will they, however, manage to convince that this "essential partnership" is really alive, that the transatlantic leadership is not simply a pious wish for some visionaries but a reality?
Transatlantic summits have been reduced - by "common consent" - to one a year, this meeting between George W. Bush and the European team in its entirety (Romano Prodi, Chris Patten and Pascal Lamy, for the Commission, as well as Jose Maria Aznar for the Council Presidency and the Union's High Representative, Javier Solana) will be held over half a day. On the American side, they expect "much discussion" on the fight against terrorism and the possibility of "finding new ground for co-operation, be it the police, justice or sanctions for funding terrorist activities, etc.), as well as the Middle East. Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the European and American leaders will at least try to highlight their co-operation and the "fact that we are on the same wavelength regarding the need to stop the violence and push both parties to return to the negotiating table". For the rest, "everything's possible but nothing is clear for now. 2 May, it's still too far off and the only thing that's almost certain a this stage is that we shall speak about it. The interests are very intense on both sides of the Atlantic", said the same source. The leaders will then discuss the situation in Afghanistan and co-operation at diplomatic level and matters of assistance, co-operation that has been "exemplary since November", notably on the formation of the new government in Kabul and the reconstruction funds. "We are almost in permanent contact and that's working very, very well". Likewise for the Balkans, where "our co-operation has been very good these past few years" (whereas ten years ago, they were a source of tension between the two sides of the Atlantic). On the economic front, the Europeans and Americans will focus their attention on the "agenda for favourable trade".
The idea behind this initiative - European at the outset, but that responds to "shared political objectives" - is to renew the transatlantic dialogue without returning to its foundations. i.e., the New Transatlantic Agenda and the 1995 Joint Action Plan. This demarche is not limited to trade, but it is obviously there where the most visible and immediate results - in other words "sellable" - can be expected (see EUROPE of 25 April p. 11). The "positive" agenda, that they still need to finalise, concerns two new areas where the partners could try to enhance their co-operation:
- taking it a little further - regulations, protection of intellectual property, prototype of electronic systems of customs procedures, tax on savings, access to public procurement, reduction in subsidies in key industrial sectors, non-proliferation, etc.;
- so as to integrate the new areas of Community competencies - transatlantic air space, liberalisation of market access, tax, judiciary;
- to take on the new challenges - security and diversity of energy supply and management of demand, workings of the oil market in relation to the situation at political level, common strategy for access to medicines and combating transmissible diseases, air and maritime transport security, questions of interoperability, frequencies, security satellite navigation systems (such as Galileo that the EU has just launched despite American reservations), as well as the problem of world over-capacity for access to space, standards and controls of organic farming (if possible, an arrangement for mutual recognition), co-operation in environmental labelling;
- and strengthening the contribution that transatlantic dialogue between actors in civil society contributes to the partnership.
The European and American leaders could finalise a part of this list which, at this stage, is only indicative and, by doing so, show that they are contributing to opening-up markets and facilitating trade, while enhancing their regulatory co-operation, that they are seeking a common approach regarding relations between public authorities and industry and that in a way they are procuring "model" for the international scene.
Finally, they will return to the results of the Monterrey Conference and their projects for the Johannesburg Summit on sustainable development (see page 17 for the recent visit to Washington by the Commissioner for the Environment, Margot Wallstrom). "For a few months now, we have been much closer to one another than before", American sources state, adding: "That depends on the subject, but regarding the fight against poverty, we speak regularly and are closer than many think".
USA stresses positive side of Trans-Atlantic relationship
According to a senior US official speaking anonymously on Friday in an exclusive interview with Agence Europe, this meeting is "positive" because the America of George Bush is as determined as the Union to show the public (and no doubt to the rest of the world: Editor's note) that, even in this particularly difficult period, the importance of the Trans-Atlantic relationship remains completely intact and that it "works" well overall. Strong tensions, overtly dealt with and managed as adults have not at all broken the "positive side produced" by the attacks of 11 September, which have forced us to realise how much we have in common in comparison with what divides us". "American and European leaders, President Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Aznar (…) will work as fast as they can to get the message across that the positive side of the relationship is far greater than the negative side", he said, without mentioning the rest of the Community team. Issues that cause anger will inevitably be part of it but "we shall manage them", he said, assuring that "even - and especially - at economic level, our relationship is tremendous, that disputes (of which some are major) may be managed and are congruous with the relationship as a whole". This is the case of the legal-trade conflict over steel which, according to the Americans, turns around methodology to determine whether there has been an absolute rise in imports, justifying WTO rules that have barred the way to foreign steel products since 20 March. At this stage, emphasis is placed on the European side on obtaining trade compensation the Europeans consider due to them in so far as the American safeguard does not correspond to an unusual rise in imports (their reference period stretching over the past four years, that, after the peak caused by the Asian crisis, that Washington obviously takes into account). The United States, states the high official, agrees on the principle of compensations, a legal device to avoid, in so doing, recognition that their provision is illegal (this question now comes under WTO competence) i.e. a "rebalancing concession" to be operated between the Union, Japan and China and the other trading partners that demand compensation. Such "measures are not necessarily required (..) but we are examining these requests seriously (EU, Japan, China, etc.). Nothing is definitive yet. We are trying to find a way was to manage this dispute that satisfies both parties.", the official said. Asked about the American propensity to have unilateral recourse to protectionist measures to try to resolve problems that may, in the absolute, be considered as macroeconomic problems, including the persistent deficit in their trade balance and the steel crisis, this senior official replied, rejecting the allegation of unilateralism. "The United States is not the only one to take trade measures that tend to improve the situation at national level. We all do that," but "we remain in the framework of the WTO. We (Americans) play on the international stage in the respect of the riles of play"