Survey blames US for Iraq dispute

Date: 28/05/03

THE UNITED States was more at fault than the European Union in the dispute over Iraq, but the UK's stance and actions served only to exacerbate tensions in the transatlantic relationship.

These are the main findings of a survey among key industry, legal, public affairs and media practitioners in Brussels. A vast majority of 86 of those quizzed stated the EU has been left damaged by the dispute.

Looking ahead, the participants agreed that trade relations would more or less survive intact, but perceive that the US will probably begin a withdrawal of interest and support for the 'European project'.

Overall, all rated the current state of the EU-US relationship negatively, though just over half viewed it as "good but going through a bad patch". About 18 said it is in "crisis mode".

A clear majority agreed with the proposition that EU-US relations are mutually beneficial - although nearly 20 think they favour the US - and are largely based on "shared values" and economic interest.

An overwhelming majority, 76, blamed the gap between the EU and the US over a variety of issues (eg Iraq, economic policy, the UN) on ideological rather than political or personal differences. Of these, just over half see the ideological differences being between the leaderships of some EU member states and the current US administration. The remaining 35see them as being between the states themselves.

Some 38 regarded the US as more responsible for the dispute over Iraq, while 32 thought both sides equally responsible; only 20 saw the EU states as more responsible.

On future relations, 76 of respondents see the new UN Security Council Resolution on restructuring Iraq as beneficial to the EU-US relationship, and 29 see the US remaining supportive of the European project. However, 38 see the US becoming negative, with 21 believing the US is actively pursuing disaggregation of the EU.

The survey was conducted by Brussels-based public affairs agency Blueprint Partners, as a prelude to a debate led by Quentin Dickinson of Radio France and George Parker, head of the Financial Times bureau in the Belgian capital.