EU and US “both to blame” for transatlantic breakdown

Date: 10/04/03

By Dana Spinant

THE EU must accept that it is as much to blame as America for the breakdown in transatlantic relations, says the Union's envoy to the US.

In a rare interview, Günter Burghardt urged the two sides to act now to prevent the "virus of political disagreement" from destroying "the very healthy body of our economic relationship".

Failure to do so could mean the end of "the West" as we know it, he warned.

Burghardt, who has worked extensively on EU-US relations during his 30-year career as a Eurocrat, described the gulf between Brussels and Washington as unprecedented: "We are living now undoubtedly in the most appalling times," he said. "The stakes have never been so high. There is a real risk of lasting damage to global, transatlantic and European post-World War II institutions."

Asked why the relationship had turned so sour, he pointed the finger at both sides.

EU leaders had avoided tackling the problem of Iraq, he claimed. "Between August 2002 - when the decision was taken in Washington to go to war against Iraq - and February 2003, there has not been one serious discussion in the European Council to at least try to establish a common line."

Burghardt accused some EU countries of acting "prematurely" in concluding that they would fail to forge an agreement.

However, Washington was also to blame. He portrayed the Bush administration as one driven by "a mixture of religious belief and missionary zeal" since the 11 September 2001 terror attacks.

Underlining this were some of George W. Bush's more colourful pronouncements. The ambassador referred to two: his statement that "the call of history came to the right country", implying that the US was the "chosen country" to deal with Iraq, and Bush's remark that "while part of the history has been written by others, the rest of the history will be written by the United States".

This, for many, sounded like "imperialism", Burghardt suggested.

Washington's tendency to wrap up its language of war with a coating of religious zeal reminded the German diplomat of his time as a deputy chef de cabinet to former European Commission President Jacques Delors: Burghardt recalled how his old boss used to say: "The Americans carry the Bible in one hand and the revolver in the other."

But Brussels' man in Washington insists that all is not lost in the transatlantic relationship.

He proposes a fresh start based on a four-point agenda: the fight against terrorism; addressing the problems of the Arab world from post-war Iraq to the Middle East peace process; sorting out bilateral trade issues; and consolidating what he terms the "positive economic agenda".

He said the time is ripe for the EU "to test the grounds on how much Europe the US administration would like to welcome".

The Union needs "to be relevant, to be seen as a constructive partner and to be serious when it comes to [defence] capabilities, to put its money where its mouth is".

Burghardt acknowledges that this may mean the EU having to accept a role as a junior partner for some time, but the important thing is to save the partnership.

"We should not let the terrorists who brought down the Twin Towers in New York destroy the twin pillars of the transatlantic relationship, which are NATO and the EU-US partnership," he said.

In a reference to the work of the Convention on the future of Europe, Burghardt said a streamlined EU would be better understood by Washington.

He suggested that the Commission delegation to Washington, which he heads, should become a fully-fledged EU embassy.

"This would add to the cohesiveness of the EU and to the EU being perceived in Washington as one single and strong partner."

However, institutional reforms alone may not be sufficient, he admitted, recalling another famous remark by his former boss Delors: "Europe will only exist when it will be able to say "No" to the United States."

The EU must accept that it is as much to blame as America for the breakdown in transatlantic relations, says the European Union's envoy to the US, Günter Burghardt.