Brussels, 03/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission spokesperson on Tuesday, reacted to the appeal from a group of former American statesmen for the US to be represented in intracommunity debates: "we are all for strengthening trans-Atlantic relations- that is clear. But I think having US representatives taking part in Council sessions is going a bit far". The Greek Presidency, however, finds the idea "attractive". "This could stimulate debate between the EU and the US", said Foreign Affairs Minister George Papandreou, in the Belgian daily De Standard. "We set the group up because we were worried that current trends on either side of the Atlantic could endanger the achievements to which all of us, and many more, committed much of our public lives", stress the signatories of an open letter published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Given the friction over Iraq, the group, headed by four former Secretaries of State (Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher, Lawrence Eagleburger, Alexander Haig) and four former Defence Secretaries (Harold Brown, Frank Carlucci, William Cohen, James Schlesinger), both Republican and Democrats, with the involvement of others, including Stuart Eizenstat, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carla Hills and Paul O'Neill, and former leaders of Congress and the Senate, "urgently" made this joint statement in favour of "renewing" the trans-Atlantic partnership. They call upon the Union to spend more on defence, and to invite American representatives to "observe" the writing of the European Constitution. They call upon the US to adopt "a more moderate tone" towards "their allies and difficult friends", whilst condemning "the rise of anti-American feeling in Europe". The statement "suggests that the EU should allow American observers to sit in on the intergovernmental conference, where the final decisions on European reform will be taken. The United States are not accession candidates, but (…) the idea could be of interest, not in order to have observers at the government conference, but in order to inform the US in a structured manner about what is happening inside the EU", says Mr Papandreou. In practice, "it would not be a bad idea to have a separate forum with the European Parliament or national parliaments and national figures who consult with members of Congress on the changes to European institutions and what is happening with defence and foreign policy", he added.