Strasbourg, 04/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten spoke, on Tuesday, on the future of transatlantic relations during a joint meeting between the WEU Assembly and the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs. Mr Patten, who wanted to be resolutely optimist and far from the past differences over the war in Iraq in particular, proposed ways to improve relations.
The EU is more effective when it works in partnership with the United States, and inversely so, the Commissioner stressed. If the EU is a key economic actor, its political role must also be strengthened, he admitted. Mr Patten explained one should be able to threaten to ensure the law is upheld. He admitted that this courage has often been lacking among Europeans. In order to strengthen transatlantic relations, not only the EU's foreign and security policy but also its defence policy should be strengthened. This is why, Mr Patten suggests: - (1) spending better and more on military means as, at the present time, he said, EU's voice is louder than its cheque book when it comes to military spending; (2) not being "obsessed" by the EU's institutional architecture. The Union has, in fact, known "major successes" such as enlargement, thanks to its "political resolve" and not its "institutional quarrels"; (3) cooperating more with the United States in the fight against terrorism; (4) developing the "Atlantic market" by agreeing on harmonisation of respective legislation. Finally, the Commissioner insisted on the relationship between violence and poverty. The United States should be told that terrorism cannot only be dealt with by bombing places that suffer from great poverty, which is often the feeding ground for terrorism, he warned.