Strasbourg, 25/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - The main aim of the EU-United States summit in Washington on Monday 30 April is to establish a 'single transatlantic market place' by 2015, and the German presidency of the EU has always seen building on relations with the United States as a central point of its programme, said German European Affairs Minister Gunter Gloser, speaking in Strasbourg on Tuesday. The EU and the United States are constantly called upon to work together to find solutions to international issues and it is not surprising that they do not always see eye to eye on everything, but Gloser told MEPs that on counter-terrorism the Council would be insisting that international law and human rights were respected. Another area where the EU will be 'frank' with the United States is the conditions for EU citizens to be able to enter the United States. 12 member states are still subject to visa requirements, even for short trips, and the German presidency representative said that the visa waiver had to apply to all member states. Alongside trade and economic cooperation, the summit will also be addressing energy security and climate change, areas where 'something is moving in the United States' said Gloser. Foreign policy issues to be discussed include reviving the Quartet, the Iranian nuclear issue, Afghanistan and Kosovo.
Commissioner Vladimir Spidla (replacing Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who will be attending Boris Yeltsin's funeral in Russia on behalf of the European Commission) said the Commission would be making detailed proposals in Washington on economic convergence (concerning investment, financial markets and innovation), foreign policy (stabilisation in Kosovo and Afghanistan and developing a mechanism to enable the Palestinian government to actually govern) and visa waivers for all EU member states. Spidla mentioned the Open Skies Agreement, which he hoped would lead to the creation of 80,000 new jobs, and entering the second phase of the agreement. Preparations for the summit are still ongoing, particularly in terms of climate change and energy, but it is clear that the EU will be calling for firmer commitments from the United States in these domains. The EU will refuse to give ground on the respect of international law in counter-terrorism, so important for the credibility of the United States.
In Parliament, practically everyone agreed that the attitude of the United States had evolved somewhat with regard to climate change. They also stressed, however, that no concessions should be made when it comes to complying with certain principles in the fight against terrorism.
The counter-terrorist fight should, according to Joseph Daul, President of the EPP-ED Group, have “appropriate legal bases”. Also, when it comes to protection of passenger name records, “there is still a doubt that there is full respect of the protection of privacy and citizens' freedoms”. Mr Daul also expressed another concern - that stricter customs inspections should not turn into a “disguised trade barrier”. Like other speakers after him, Mr Daul hoped for closer cooperation with the US Congress, and suggested that the president of the EP, Hans-Gert Pöttering, should invite Nancy Pelosi, the new speaker at the House of Representatives, to the EP. Yes, Jan Wiersma admitted on behalf of the Socialist Group, from what was learned from a recent visit to Washington by a delegation from the EP, it would seem there is a greater desire for dialogue emerging in the United States - and one should make the most of it. Mr Wiersma was the first, but not the last, to call for Paul Wolfowitz's resignation, saying one cannot ask the World Bank to combat corruption if it is not itself above all suspicion.
The president of the ALDE Group, Graham Watson, also called for things to be made quite clear in relations with the United States, especially when it is a question of torture and the fight against terrorism. He said the experience in Iraq “shows what happens when the balance between freedom and security is wrong”. Mr Watson also stressed the need to tackle the problem of Iraqi refugees in a practical way.
“We must tell the United States what we expect of it”, took up Angelika Beer, speaking for the Greens/EFA, with regard to Guantanamo, the death penalty and Kosovo (she said, the independence of Kosovo should be demanded immediately, without waiting to know what the United States will do). The president of the GUE/NGL Group, Francis Wurtz, expressed concern about the proposal of a transatlantic market without trade barriers. He felt such deregulation might be going too far, and recalled the recent and “stormy” history of similar attempts (that by Leon Brittan in 1998, in particular), which then had to be withdrawn. Brian Crowley, President of the UEN Group, acknowledged cooperation with the United States was necessary. He cited the specific example of drug production in Afghanistan, the origin of 90% of heroin consumed in Europe, saying the EU and the United States should, together, propose alternative crops. The merits of the Atlantic partnership were underlined by Godfrey Bloom, speaking for Independence and Democracy, as well as by Frank Vanhecke (Non-Attached), who nonetheless called on the Union to clearly state that Turkey cannot become a member of the EU, even if this is in the interests of the United States.
The same feeling of cautious optimism came out of the debate in general (with a few exceptions, for example Paul Marie Coûteaux of IND/DEM, who considers that relations with the United States are, de facto, “relations of subordination”). MEPs did not, however, skimp their warnings. Danish Socialist Poul Nyrup Rasmussen noted that the situation of the financial markets and the role of hedge funds is not really inline with the Lisbon goals. Even some members of Congress are beginning to realise this, he said, hoping that the subject will be covered at the next G8 meeting. The president of the Party of European Socialists (PES) also invited the United States to agree to support the Palestinian unity government, failing which power will fall into the hands of Hamas. Calling on the United States to respect certain rules in the fight against terrorism is not a sign of anti-Americanism, Dutch Liberal Sophia in't Veldt said, as the Americans themselves are increasingly critical of the Bush government's policy. And, as for the Europeans, they must stop “moaning” and speak with a single voice. Also, MEPs should demand to be systematically involved and upstream of initiatives concerning cooperation with the United States, mainly in the legislative field, said Alexander Radwan of Germany (EPP-ED), backed by British Conservative Jonathan Evans. They take the view that dialogue at parliamentary level must be constant and in-depth. Last week's first meeting of the group for transatlantic legislative dialogue held within the Congress' hemicycle demonstrates the interest that is now awakening on this.
At the end of the debate, Commissioner Spidla set out a few details on the following issues: - visa exemption. The Bush Administration has shown its intention to amend the existing rules but the final text is awaited (and may be adopted by summer) before a judgement can be made; - transmission of passenger name records. “Constructive” talks on this problem took place last week; - data protection. The intention is to jointly define basic rules but the stage of opening negotiation on a formal agreement has not yet been reached; - missile shield. The EU confirms that, even if it has a common foreign and security policy, it is not a “defence union”; - and the case of the BAWAG bank in Austria. Two Austrian MEPs, Johannes Voggenhuber and Hannes Swoboda, were highly critical of American pressure to have the bank eliminate clients of Cuban origin. Mr Spidla said they did not yet have any exact information on this but it was obvious that, if such were the case, the Commission should be notified and that this kind of practice should not be tolerated. (lg)