| September 18, 2007 |
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Ambassador's Corner WEEKLY MESSAGE FROM AMBASSADOR JOHN BRUTON September 18, 2007 Microsoft Judgment I visited the Mayor of Washington, DC, Adrian Fenty recently at his offices in the  Wilson Building, just between the Capitol and the White House. Running a city that is home to the most powerful government in the world and a population of almost 600,000 people is no easy task. At 36, Mayor Fenty is the youngest ever to hold this office. Having grown up here, he cares deeply about the city and certainly is well able for the challenge. The Mayor has a very hands-on approach, wears three Blackberries on his belt, conducts business in an open-plan office and though very busy, covers with ease a lot of ground without ever appearing rushed. We had a very interesting conversation in his "bull-pen" about what he is trying to do to make the District safer and to improve the school system. He told me how improving the physical conditions in schools and classrooms and ensuring that teachers have supplies and textbooks were his top priorities at the moment. Meetings in Brussels I spent most of last week in Brussels. Every two years the European Commission brings all its Ambassadors/Heads of Delegation back to Brussels for a week-long seminar to be briefed on the big policy issues facing Europe and the world.  The seminar was organized by the European Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner. In her address, she stressed the urgency of the Middle East Peace Process. Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner played a crucial role in putting in place the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM), which has prevented the Palestinian people, unable to sell their products because of Israeli security measures, from starving. She told us about the success of the recent conference she had organized with the European Union’s neighbors, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine. EU advice and political and economic support was playing a crucial rôle in bringing stability to these countries and to the entire region. The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said that the recent improvement in Europe’s economic performance was partly due to the system of EU-wide benchmarking of economic reform in individual countries under the Lisbon Strategy. He said that the immediate task for the European Union was to finalize drafting a new Reform Treaty to replace the proposed EU Constitution that was rejected by France and the Netherlands. He was hopeful that this could be completed by next month, so that the European Union’s leaders would then turn their energies to other difficult questions, like the status of Kosovo, energy policy, a global agreement on climate change and nuclear weapons proliferation.  Javier Solana, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy [CFSP] and Secretary General of the Council, briefed us on major foreign policy challenges that Europe would face in the next four or five years. By 2020, the EU citizens will constitute only one out of every twenty citizens in the entire world. Western nations in general would have to take account of the increasing populations and political and economic weight of non-western nations. We would have to treat other nations now as we would expect, in future, to be treated ourselves. That included a reform of international institutions.Javier Solana told us that the biggest problem facing the world today is the possible further proliferation of nuclear weapons. This was not a North/South issue. The safety of the world’s population, no matter what their cultural, religious or economic status, was at stake. Nuclear weapons were indiscriminate in their victims. He highlighted the threat of climate change, saying that a huge shortage of water and food supplies was being created by the increase in temperatures and desertification in parts of the world.  The President to the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, also addressed us. I have known Hans-Gert for many years. We served together in the Presidency of EPP [European People's Party (Christian Democrats)]. He said that each of the three institutions of the European Union had complementary rôles in the Union’s foreign relations. Of the three, the Parliament had the biggest freedom to speak. But it aimed to do its work in harmony and close consultation with the European Council and the European Commission. The Portuguese Minister for European Affairs, Mr. Manuel Lobo Antunes, spoke to us  at the specific invitation of EU Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner. This was the first time that the EU Presidency had been invited to address the European Commission Ambassadors’ seminar and it was a step towards a more coordinated approach to EU foreign policy between the Council of Ministers and the European Commission, foreshadowing the changes in the new Reform Treaty.Mr. Antunes gave us a very fluent and detailed briefing on the negotiations to finalize the Reform Treaty. He said that Europe had much work to do to put detailed measures in place to fulfill the commitments it had made on energy and climate change. He also said that unity of purpose in the EU on the Kosovo question was vital.  [EU Trade] Commissioner Peter Mandelson briefed us on the state of negotiations in the Doha Development Round. He emphasized that the European Union was not under pressure on this occasion because the offers it had put on the table for scaling back distorting supports for European agriculture were seen as adequate by the other participants. But he said that for there to be a deal, the United States have to bring down the ceiling it places on the tax financed aid it would give to American farmers in the future. The recent increase in corn and milk prices suggested that setting this lower ceiling might be an easier task for the Administration than it might previously have appeared.  [EU Development & Humanitarian Aid] Commissioner Louis Michel explained why it was his policy that EU development assistance should be given to the overall budget of less developed countries rather than doled out to individual projects one by one. He said that giving general budgetary support was the most efficient way of spending the money. It places maximum confidence in the administrations of the developing countries themselves and thus enables them to develop their own expertise and to make their government systems more sophisticated. Individual project by project aid, micro-managed by western governments, absorbed enormous amounts of official time and did not show a sufficient level of confidence in the administrations of the recipient countries. This lack of confidence could become part of a self-fulfilling process.Commissioner Olli Rehn briefed us on the Enlargement of the European Union. He  welcomed the recent clarification of the political situation in Turkey, which, he said, would allow President Gül and Prime Minister Erdogan to get on with the task of reforming Turkey’s governance so that the country could qualify for EU membership. Progress was still required on matters such as freedom of expression and aspects of religious practice. He also mentioned the fact that Armenia’s border with Turkey was closed and that Cypriot flagged ships could not dock in Turkish ports. Commissioner Rehn will be visiting Washington on September 24 to 26 to meet with the US Administration and he will address the German Marshall Fund.Please send me your comments about this or any of my weekly messages or other EU matters. I look forward to hearing from you! 
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