Benita Ferrero-Waldner

No. 06/05
January 13, 2005

"EU-US RELATIONS"

SPEECH BY DR. BENITA FERRERO-WALDNER

EU COMMISSIONER FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS AND EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY

AT THE CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
WASHINGTON, DC
13 JANUARY, 2005

Mr. Chairman,

Your Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentleman.

I would like to thank Robin Niblett and the Center for Strategic and International Studies for this invitation to speak to you today. Although I had the pleasure of visiting Washington, DC, when I was Austrian Foreign Minister, this is my first visit as European Commissioner responsible for External Relations. I am delighted to have the opportunity to address such a distinguished audience.

Judging from the weather outside, it seems that spring is already on its way in DC. I must say, it's really rather a relief to see - as those of you who are familiar with Brussels will know, the weather there is rarely as good as this in January! But, as one of your poets, Anne Bradstreet, wrote, "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." The same could be said about EU-US relations. We have had a fair amount of adversity, as well as our periods of prosperity. Certainly our relations have not been easy over the last couple of years. But, just like the season, we now have an opportunity for renewal.

There are renewals on both sides of the Atlantic; a new US Administration is stepping in next week and a new European Commission and European Parliament took office last year. President Bush has spoken of the importance of us reaching out to one another and has announced that his first foreign trip after his inauguration will be to Brussels. And I am here today, following my colleague Javier Solana's visit last week, to meet members of the Administration and Congress and to help establish a new basis for our relations in the years to come.

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2005 marks the 10th anniversary year of the New Transatlantic Agenda, and that is as fitting a reason as any for talking about renewing our relations. As my colleague, President Barroso has said, "The relationship between the United States and Europe constitutes the world's strongest, most comprehensive and strategically most important partnership." Standing on this side of the Atlantic, it is easier to understand why US public opinion sometimes fails to appreciate the significance of the transatlantic link, just as European public opinion sometimes fails to appreciate the value of our partnership. But understanding why is not enough - we must both make more effort to communicate to our publics the significance and value of our relationship. Recently, public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic has received a rather negative impression of the state of our relations. I hope we can reverse that trend. Although there will always be farsighted players amongst us to ensure that, in the long run, our relationship stays on track, we risk more frequent derailments if public opinion is not fully on board.

From any perspective, the EU of today bears little resemblance to the EU of just one year ago, let alone that of 10 or 20 years ago. Indeed, it was only 10 years ago that my own country joined the EU. Today we are 25 Member States; 2 others, Bulgaria and Romania, are expected to join us in 2007; and we are set to start negotiations with Croatia and Turkey later this year.

In parallel to this rapid geographical enlargement, the EU is getting involved in ever more policy areas ranging from the success of the single currency to an extensive agenda of co-operation on justice and homeland security issues. The same is true in the area of foreign and security policy. At the end of 2003, the EU adopted its first security strategy and we are already preparing for significant future changes with the entry into force of the EU's new constitutional treaty in the next couple of years.

I would like to illustrate this trend with three specific examples:

First, our growing capacity to handle the challenges of security and stability in our immediate neighbourhood. With the active support of the US, enlargement has traditionally been our most effective foreign policy instrument. But there are limits on how far and how fast this process can go. We have therefore developed a new initiative, the "European Neighbourhood policy," to engage with our neighbours to the east and south. In return for their taking meaningful steps to strengthen the rule of law, good governance, and human rights and democracy, we offer our neighbours new opportunities to share in the EU's Single Market, closer co-operation on energy and transport links and a chance to participate in EU programmes.

Second, the emergence of a genuinely operational European Security and Defence Policy. This should enable the EU to take on a bigger share of our global responsibilities, working with NATO and, I hope more effectively than in the past, complementing its activities. But I should be absolutely clear - we have no intention of doing anything that would undermine NATO or the established basis of transatlantic security co-operation. The recent transfer of peace-keeping operations in Bosnia from NATO to the EU is an excellent example of consensual burden-sharing that I hope will become the model for the future.

Third, the EU's traditional strengths in the soft end of international relations. We are deeply committed to the success of multilateral international institutions, starting of course with the United Nations. President Bush's recent comments on the importance of effective multilateralism are particularly welcome in this context. We are also well-established as the world's leading donor of financial assistance, providing some 55% of international aid and two-thirds of grant aid.

Throughout all these important developments, one thing remains constant. That is the centrality and irreplaceable nature of the transatlantic relationship. It is important for us, for you, and for the world. It is important for our business, for our civil societies and for our citizens. And we see its importance reflected in our trade relations; our counter-terrorism activities; and our handling of crises and conflicts.

On a global level we are both major powers, and as such we have global responsibilities. Exercising that power and responsibility effectively inevitably means working together.

In this regard, let me touch for a moment on the way the international community has come together in the face of the catastrophe in the Indian Ocean. Our hearts go out to all those affected by this terrible disaster. The overwhelming destruction has left all of us shocked and determined to assist. The American and European peoples have shown tremendous compassion and global responsibility. Public authorities have responded, not only financially (between the EU and the US we have pledged well over $2 billion) but also by ensuring that the donations of aid will be spent effectively because we have coordinated our efforts through the UN system. This is an excellent example of effective multilateralism. In the face of such human suffering, only effective international cooperation can hope to prevail. And in this case, coordination between the EU and US has been exemplary.

But effective cooperation between the EU and the US shouldn't only take place when disasters occur. Our joint approach to the Balkans and Afghanistan, and recent events in Ukraine, demonstrated that when we do act together, there are few things we cannot achieve.

Knowing this, it is surely our responsibility to make every effort to cooperate. This may at times be painful, especially when it requires us to put short-term domestic considerations aside in order to achieve our long-term goals. However, to quote President Eisenhower, "No nation's security and well-being can be lastingly achieved in isolation, but only in effective cooperation with fellow nations."

Seeing the success of these cooperative efforts should make us impatient to do more - and there is no shortage of opportunities. Perhaps most urgent is the potential for peace in the Middle East. Thanks to the free and fair elections held last Sunday, we now have a new Palestinian leadership with the credibility and legitimacy to act as Israel's partner in negotiating peace. And in Israel we have a new government committed to a withdrawal from Gaza, which I hope will be negotiated with the Palestinian leadership. Taken together, there is a real opportunity to re-start the peace process. We must seize the moment; re-invigorate the Quartet; and provide the necessary political attention, support, and financial assistance to ensure the Road Map's full implementation. Together we have a serious possibility to contribute to peace.

Progress towards peace between Israelis and Palestinians would also put in place a key part of the puzzle for success in another area of vital interest to us both - greater freedom, democracy and prosperity in the broader Middle East and Mediterranean. Democracy cannot be imposed from outside, but in the EU we have a wealth of experience in helping countries transform themselves, both politically and economically: from Central and Eastern Europe to Turkey and the Balkans. And this experience applies to the Mediterranean and the Broader Middle East as well. There we have been working for decades to support domestic-grown reforms in the political, economic and social fields. We have backed our political efforts with assistance amounting to something like €3 billion per year of loans and grants.

The EU and US should do more to work in parallel with one another on the region's priorities. These should be the advancement of human rights and democracy, education, economic modernisation, the promotion of regional integration, WTO membership for all the countries of the region and forming a Middle East Zone free of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Iran and Iraq are also, needless to say, key pieces of the puzzle. Everyone in Europe wants Iraq to be a democratic, peaceful and stable country. That is why we have been ready to contribute substantially to Iraq's reconstruction both politically and financially. The EU pledged around €1.2 billion in Madrid - of this the European Commission is contributing almost €320 million. As I confirmed at the G8 Ministerial meeting at Sharm el Sheikh in November, we will maintain a similar level of funding in 2005. We will support the electoral and constitutional processes and those needs we find most pressing: employment creation, health and education. It is only through effective cooperation that stability in Iraq will be achieved. For the long term we want to develop a partnership with Iraq that will cover both political and trade cooperation. As relations with Iraq normalise, we intend to work towards a contractual agreement that would give full expression to such a partnership.

The EU has been in the lead in securing a nuclear deal with Iran. We now need to work together to ensure that Iran delivers on its commitments. The European Commission is doing its part - even as we speak negotiations are taking place in Brussels for an agreement on trade and improved cooperation linked to Iran's performance in other areas. Your President said last month, "We're relying upon others, because we've sanctioned ourselves out of influence with Iran." But let there be no misunderstanding: we rely upon each other for the success of this deal. The development of a broader, longer-term understanding with Iran will depend in large part on the stance adopted by the US. I cannot emphasise enough how important our mutual cooperation will be.

There are many other examples of where it is in our mutual interest to cooperate; the truth is, there are very few areas where we do not share the same goals and where we would not both benefit from a greater degree of collaboration. I will wish to review other major foreign policy challenges with your government this afternoon; certainly, given that President Bush has made effective multilateralism one of his priorities, we will discuss the subject of UN reform.

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I have concentrated on foreign policy issues, and the scope for the US and the EU to work together as a force for good in the world. But we also have an important agenda in our bilateral relations which presents major opportunities and challenges.

We can become tired of quoting the impressive economic figures. US and European companies invest more in each other's economies than they do in the entire rest of the world. In 2003 US investment in the Netherlands alone was not far behind the total US investment in all of Asia. And total 2-way trade between the US and Europe employs, directly or indirectly, over 12 million people on both sides of the Atlantic.

On counter-terrorism, the Commission has worked very well with the US Department of Homeland Security in the areas of border - and transport - security. For example, last year we agreed on how to improve container security and on the transfer of air passenger name records, while ensuring personal data is adequately protected. We have also worked closely with the US on improving air traffic security and on promoting higher security standards at airports, seaports and on ships.

But just as there is unfulfilled potential to do more together in our cooperation with other countries, there is also unfulfilled potential in developing our bilateral relations.

On counter-terrorism, we cannot limit ourselves to bilateral solutions if we want to address global security challenges effectively. We would now like to work together with the US to see global standards adopted in international organisations such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the International Maritime Organisation and the World Customs Organisation. This would make trade and travel more secure on a global basis, whilst simultaneously facilitating legitimate movements.

A more problematic area is our request for the extension of your visa waiver scheme to all EU countries. That has not yet happened, and as a result much money and time is being wasted. But more important is the emotional impact. The very premise of the EU is that all citizens should be treated equally, but it is abundantly clear to some of our new Member States that when it comes to US visas this is not the case.

There is still scope for increasing our trade and investment. Our responsibility as governments is to create the right environment to allow these to grow. At the last EU-US Summit, we both agreed that we would consult our citizens and business about how best we could increase trade, investment, jobs, competitiveness and innovation. Our side of the Atlantic has certainly responded well and we have received some excellent suggestions. The next Summit will take place this summer, and before then we will turn the ideas generated on both sides of the Atlantic into specific proposals.

One area where we should focus our energies is in successfully concluding the WTO Doha Development round. Monday's agreement to launch EU-US negotiations on subsidies in the civil aircraft sector is a positive sign for our future cooperation on trade issues.

A final area to mention is climate change. I am not going to talk about why this is important - now more than ever that should be obvious to all. But I think it is worth bearing in mind that the future of our planet is at stake, and that those most affected, as with any natural disaster, will be the poor and the vulnerable. So whatever the solution, be it method x or y, the key is that it be both effective and multilateral, and that we to take steps to achieve it rapidly.

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Is the current informal institutional structure of our relations up to the task of achieving all these ambitious goals? I believe we need to keep an open mind and explore all available options. I have heard lots of interesting ideas, ranging from updating the agendas and action plans to revamping the dialogue structures or even negotiating a formal partnership agreement or an interdependence declaration. Whatever we do, what is ultimately important is the political will to work together.

I recently spoke to the Transatlantic Policy Network in Brussels, which brings together politicians from both sides of the Atlantic. I stressed the importance I attach to such opportunities for policy makers to meet. In discussing our future relations, links between the US Congress and members of the European Parliament will play a very important role, and I hope 2005 will see them intensify.

So let me close with an injunction to all of us here today, to your government and to my colleagues back home. In the words of President Kennedy, "Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belabouring those problems which divide us." And let us undertake to fulfil more of the promise that our relations hold, for prosperity, peace, freedom and security.

My personal undertaking to you is to do everything in my power to achieve that. I know that my fellow Europeans who have been visiting your capital in recent days share that commitment, and President Bush is sending us a strong signal by visiting Brussels next month.

I thank you again for this opportunity to share my thoughts with you, and hope that if you honour me with another invitation in the future the climatic conditions on both sides of the Atlantic will be as favourable as they are here today!