The changing face of Europe: EU enlargement and implications for transatlantic relations

Summary:

EU enlargement and the development of a stronger Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) should encourage the United States to begin to focus on the policy implications of EU bloc voting in international forums and of the over-representation of EU Member States in such bodies as the UN Security Council. At the very least, the United States will need to be cautious about the extension of majority voting (even with regard to procedural issues) in international organisations and must redouble efforts, heretofore unsuccessful, to raise the thresholds for controversial multilateral treaties to enter into force. Publicly explaining the US position on these matters will be essential to counter the widely held view that refusal to embrace EU-favoured positions in international forums constitutes ipso facto unilateralism