Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-25-Speech-3-278"
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"en.20090325.27.3-278"2
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".
Mr President, EU-US relations have had a positive, fresh start under the new Administration of President Obama. In the Commission we are all working very hard to contribute our fair share to our common reinvigorated agenda. That is also why I appreciate this timely debate. I am pleased that Parliament and the Commission seem to see eye to eye on many priorities here.
The economy is at the top of President Obama’s agenda, but the US has also been quick to review the main foreign policy issues.
On Afghanistan and Pakistan: the new Administration agrees on the importance of a more comprehensive policy – to add a civilian surge in parallel to a military surge. The new US emphasis on civilian capacity-building and the regional approach focusing on Pakistan converge with longstanding EU policies. The Commission’s efforts in Afghanistan include support for police training, reform of the judiciary and promoting alternative livelihoods in rural areas, for instance to combat drug cultivation. I have also received clear signals of US support – including from Vice-President Biden himself – for our active work in preparation towards a possible EU election observation mission in Afghanistan, provided that security requirements are met. I am actively looking at whether we can provide additional funding in all of these areas. The other day we also discussed it with Richard Holbrooke, the Special Envoy for both Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are looking forward to being at the regional conference in The Hague and also at the conference on Pakistan in Tokyo.
Similarly, in the Middle East we have been asking for closer US engagement from the very outset. We were encouraged by Secretary Clinton’s presence at the Sharm el-Sheik Conference and also her active involvement through the first Quartet by her presence. We should discuss how best to engage both the new Israeli Government – and hopefully also a Palestinian national unity government – in order to build a two-state solution. We are encouraged that the Obama Administration wants to engage with the rest of the region, including Syria. We should also work with the US on engaging in Iran – as has already been said – as part of preventing nuclear proliferation in the region, reinforcing our work on both the incentives and sanctions track.
The EU also plays a major role in our eastern neighbourhood. We will stay in close touch with the US on our work to promote democratic and market-oriented reforms in the region, including via the new Eastern Partnership, which pursues the objectives of political association and economic integration with our six neighbours to the east.
We will speak with the US more than in the past about how to engage with strategic partners such as Russia and China, as well as Latin America. Most immediately, I want to ensure that the EU’s meeting with President Obama in Prague on 5 April takes the relationship forward in a tangible way, already focusing on concrete results. This will then set the scene for a successful EU-US Summit in Washington, probably in June.
June will also be the occasion to elaborate a renewed transatlantic agenda and a sustainable programme of practical EU-US cooperation.
We are looking forward to a busy EU-US calendar. My opening remarks will focus on our immediate ‘to do’ list, but I would also like to stress at the beginning two points with regard to EU-US institutional structures. Firstly, I believe that stronger links between the EU and US legislators are vital for a successful transatlantic partnership. Secondly, I will be following up on the report’s recommendations with regard to an overhaul of the New Transatlantic Agenda of 1995.
Like many others, I have already met Secretary of State Clinton on various occasions and I also spoke to Vice-President Biden when he was in Brussels very recently. One thing is clear: this US Administration will look for reliable partners in tackling all the global and regional challenges, and they identify Europe as their partner of choice on reliability. We must seize this opportunity.
But, at the same time, they will also be looking for the European Union to bring specific ‘deliverables’ to the table – not least on difficult issues such as Afghanistan and the closure of Guantánamo. We must therefore develop clear positions based on our own common interests, and speak with one voice. Let me be clear: this crucial transatlantic friendship is not a one-way street. Europe and the European Union need to deliver.
A strong EU is thus an important partner for the US in tackling global challenges. I believe we should focus initially on a limited number of priorities.
The very difficult state of the world economy is of course the backdrop to all that we do. The prime goal is greater cooperation between the European Union, the United States and other major players on macroeconomic policy and reforming regulation of the financial sector. We must coordinate better to promote a recovery in demand and employment, and we have to ensure that our policies are mutually supporting and do not distort trade. Protectionist elements on both sides of the Atlantic need to be resisted. The European Union and the US should work closely together to implement the outcome of next week’s G20 Summit, including developing compatible approaches to reforming the regulation of the financial sector. The last European Council in Brussels made a great step in that direction.
We must also look after the transatlantic economy, which accounts for half of the world’s output and trade. Your report very rightly places a heavy emphasis on this issue. We should boost the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) to make it more effective in removing regulatory barriers and promoting growth, while at the same time making it more strategic in outlook. The TEC – as it is called – should be able to discuss, for instance, how to avoid a beggar-thy-neighbour policy in national recovery plans.
On climate change: for the first time in a decade, EU and US policies are starting to converge. We should concentrate on getting a deal at Copenhagen in December. We need to lead jointly by example, to get China and India on board in a multilateral agreement and to launch an integrated carbon market as part of the future global market. We both need to promote the message that clean, efficient technologies and ‘green jobs’ can play a role in economic recovery. President Obama has already rightly emphasised this point. This also means bringing our energy research programmes into closer cooperation and reinforcing our dialogue on energy security – as our President has also said.
With regard to foreign assistance and development policy, both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have highlighted their importance as part of a full-scope foreign policy. This plays very much to the EU’s strengths as the world’s largest donor. We should seek renewed US commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and relaunch EU-US dialogue on development cooperation, with a focus on issues such as aid effectiveness and policy coherence."@en1
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