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The transatlantic relationship between the United States and Europe is arguably the most important bilateral forum in the world, given the broad range of its concerns and its potential to change them for better or worse.
Yesterday's summit between the US and the European Union in Vienna dealt with the pursuit of peace, human rights and democracy, security challenges, economic development, energy security, climate change and sustainable development.
President Bush and his team made a definite effort to improve relations with European leaders and voters which have been badly damaged by the invasion of Iraq, Guantánamo and the confrontation with Iran. EU leaders were willing to reciprocate, based on a reaffirmation of common, yet distinct, values.
The summit registers a definite strengthening of the US-EU relationship in all these fields, even where there were sharp disagreements before and during it. The relationship is still developing, having evolved in recent years from a forum dealing with arcane if indispensable regulatory and mainly economic issues to a much more political one. Whereas president Bill Clinton used to dread its boring technicalities and swore never to attend another one, President Bush has used the meetings to address and try to repair sharply deteriorating transatlantic relations, leaving the regulatory issues to a growing network of preparatory and continuing officialdom. This trend was clearly seen during the summit held at Dromoland Castle two years ago and was continued at the Hofburg in Vienna.
Punchy quotations on headline issues yesterday bear out the impression. Mr Bush says he would "like to end Guantánamo", but wants to see a number of its inmate "cold killers" tried in US courts. He says the Doha world trade round has to succeed in the interests of all concerned. He wants the Europeans to put disagreements with the US about Iraq behind them and co-operate in bringing democracy there and elsewhere in the Middle East. The Europeans agreed with him that Iran and North Korea must respond rapidly to demands that they drop their nuclear weapons programmes. A long list of joint initiatives on energy security, climate change and sustainability is included in the joint declaration. There is a commitment to make tangible progress on reciprocal visas. And in response to recent surveys suggesting that many Europeans believe the Americans are a greater threat to world peace than Iran or North Korea, Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel said they were "grotesque" and Mr Bush deemed them "absurd". ...
This was a real political engagement, but it remains an unbalanced one. Mr Bush represents the world's only superpower, albeit one that needs the co-operation of its allies to achieve its ends. The EU has varying competence on yesterday's summit agenda items, many of which are dealt with at national level. But this summit shows a growing readiness to work together.
The Irish Times
