Brussels, 10/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on transatlantic relations, welcoming the improved climate of relations with Washington, and voicing its hopes that the EU/United States summit will breathe new life into the partnership, by updating the new Transatlantic agenda, replacing it with a Transatlantic Partnership Agreement, to be applicable from 2007. In the view of the EP, both sides must step up their co-operation with a view to the conclusion of this partnership agreement, by establishing a transatlantic "action community" to reinforce global security, and by such means as: -reforming the UN, in particular its Security Council (see below); -common actions to fight international terrorism "and to tackle its deepest underlying causes"; -the development of a multilateral strategy for the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the use of nuclear energy; -the resumption of negotiations on checks on weapons and disarmament at world level, in the context of the UN, and bilaterally; -the peace process in the Middle East, working together with the governments and people of the region and on the basis of the road map drawn up by the Quartet; -common support for the reinforcement of democracy, liberty, human rights and equality between men and women in the Middle East. In the field of economics, the EP welcomes the recent communication by the Commission, which proposes "timely improvements" in fields such as co-operation on regulations, investments, competition policy, public procurement, aviation, maritime transport, the financial markets, the free movement of persons and the mutual recognition of professional qualifications, amongst other things. The EP also feels that it is "essential" for both sides also to discuss subjects on which there is still any "fundamental disagreement", such as the International Criminal Court, climate change, multilateralism or the situation in Guantánamo Bay. The EP also welcomes the fact that the Commission has proposed to step up a dialogue between the American Congress and the EP, which will is to be a first step towards the creation of a "Transatlantic Assembly".
During the debate on Wednesday, Council President Nicolas Schmit stressed the "considerable progress" the EU and the US had made in "the management of major international problems": -Iran. "Not only have the Americans provided support to the European initiative (on the Iranians' nuclear programme), but they have also agreed to open WTO accession negotiations with Iran, and this accession is today an integral part of the European strategy". On this tricky dossier, "we have succeeded in showing that cooperation between the United States and Europe can bring solutions" and "take the form of a coherent procedure, which is, above all, a European procedure"; -Iraq. The EU and the United States are to hold a joint conference on the reconstruction of Iraq, in Brussels on 22 June. "With this conference, we will have the opportunity to show that we have left our differences of opinion on Iraq behind us. The United States and the Union have the same objective (...), which is to help the Iraqi government in its enormous reconstruction effort and, above all, to help reinforce security"; -Sudan. The EU insists not only that those responsible for crimes against humanity are punished, but also that this should be done in the Forum of the International Criminal Court (ICC). After long negotiations with the Americans, "we have found a solution which is acceptable to all, which will allow the situation in Sudan to be brought before the Court, without an American veto". The forthcoming EU/United States summit will be an important meeting, "one which will allow us to consolidate progress made, and which will continue to help us move our relationship forward in fields where we have not yet managed to find a common basis (...). The Presidency will do all in its power to make sure that this summit is a success, a success for Europe. This is important because Europe also has to show the Americans that it is still capable of acting, that internal problems are not compromising its capacity to act externally", Mr Schmit underlined.
Commissioner Joe Borg also spoke of the change in approach and "increasingly open attitude" shown by the Americans towards the EU, ever since Mr Bush's visit to Brussels last February. The president of the committee on foreign affairs of the EP, Elmar Brok (EPP-ED, Germany), criticised the Commission's "curious attitude" on whether the EU should conclude a partnership agreement with the United States (relations are currently based on political declarations, without a formal contractual framework). "The Commission says there is no support for this agreement, apart from the fact that Congress and the European Parliament are calling for it" said Mr Brok ironically, before concluding that the opinions of these two democratically elected bodies "do not seem to matter to the commission". "The United States and the EU have agreements with practically all the countries of the world, but these two major world actors still do not have one with each other", which is an "abnormality" which needs to be corrected, Mr Brok said. It is indeed a "strange situation", Nicolas Schmit acknowledged. "Is it because we are such close partners? (...) I believe, however, that in the next few years, we must ask ourselves seriously whether it is time to give transatlantic relations are more defined, more precise framework", Mr Schmit continued.
The European Commission, on the other hand, remains unconvinced about the need for an agreement with Washington, "because this would require long and involved negotiations without really bringing us anything", said Commissioner Borg. "Our relationship with the United States does not depend on institutions or contractual structures, but on the substance and goodwill of both sides", he said. Jan Marinus Wiersma (PES, the Netherlands) stressed two issues: the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction throughout the world ("we must rebuild confidence in the non-proliferation Treaty") and UN reform (a "test" of the Americans' willingness to reinforce multilateralism). Having "hit rock bottom" with the war in Iraq, "the sky above transatlantic relations seems to be clearing", said Belgian Liberal Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck, who added: the partnership should be based on "mutual respect and the equality of both partners". German Green Cem Özdemir was pleased to note that there was no "Schadenfreude" in Washington further to the French and Dutch no votes on the European Constitution, but he said that he had identified at least two very serious problems in the policy of "our American friends": a refusal to budge over climate change, and the keeping of "illegal and shameful" prisons such as Guantánamo. On climate change, Nicholas Schmidt replied: "our positions remain a very long way apart and we know that without the United States, we cannot plan a follow-up to the Kyoto agreement (...). This means that there is a lot to discuss with the Americans, finally to bring them on board of this multilateral approach". Bogdam Adam Klich (EPP-ED, Poland) said that the EU should bring more pressure to bear on Washington to allow the new Member States also to benefit from the American "visa waiver scheme", which currently exempts the citizens of 15 old Member States (all except Greece, plus Slovenia) from visa obligations. He feels that if the Americans are not prepared to move on this, the Commission should take measures against the United States, due to a lack of reciprocity in their visa policy (as the EU of 25 imposes no visa requirements on American citizens). Joao Deus de Pinheiro (EPP-ED, Portugal) appealed to the Europeans and the Americans to "unite their muscle" in world trade to tackle the "unacceptable social and environmental dumping” practised by certain countries (he did not explicitly refer to China). On the approaches of the EU ("soft power") and the US ("hard power") respectively to fight the factors of insecurity and threat in the world, these are tending to grow even further apart, said Mr de Pinheiro, adding that what is needed today "is to make the European approach a little less soft and that of the Americans a little less hard". Other MEPs were even harsher, such as Emmanuele Agnoletto (GUE/NGL, Italy), who regretted the fact that the transatlantic partnership is based exclusively on economic liberalism, and his Czech colleague from the same group, Jaromir Kohlicek, who spoke out against the fact that Parliament's resolution makes no mention of a range of "sensitive issues". "The EU does not dare to criticise its American partner, which is stronger than it is, but it is easily able to criticise Turkey, Russia or Bangladesh", Mr Kohlicek protested.