US ambassador speaks out on relations with Europe

Date: 16/01/03

By David Cronin

WASHINGTON'S EU envoy will today (16 January) try to quell a growing sense of discord felt in Brussels over the state of transatlantic relations.

In particular, Rockwell Schnabel will take issue with a headline in this week's issue of Time magazine, which warns there is a risk of EU-US relations "going up in flames".

In an address to an invited audience at Brussels' Cercle Royal Gaulois, he will contend that, a few misunderstandings apart, Brussels and Washington get on well.

The upbeat tone of his presentation contrasts with comments earlier this month by Javier Solana. The Union's foreign policy chief said there was "a very different political analysis" on each side of the Atlantic regarding Iran and the Palestinian Authority.

But Schnabel will argue that the EU and US have both helped to provide a focus for how peace can be achieved in the Middle East. For example, the two sides have joined Russia and the UN in devising a "road map" for ending the conflict there, which includes a plan for a Palestinian state.

While he supports Israel's right to defend itself against suicide bombers, US officials say Schnabel is also likely to urge its forces to prevent civilians being killed and maimed in the West Bank and Gaza.

He will also back efforts by Greece's EU presidency to conclude a EU-US agreement on extradition and legal cooperation in the coming months. An accord has proven elusive to date - largely because of EU opposition to the death penalty in some American states.

Washington's EU envoy, Rockwell Schnabel, tries to quell a growing sense of discord felt in Brussels over the state of transatlantic relations, 16 January 2003.