Ranimer les relations entre les Etats-Unis et l'UE

L’élection de Barack Obama au poste de président des Etats-Unis va sensiblement réduire les divergences politiques entre l’Europe et les Etats-Unis. C’est ce qu’indiquent l’analyste de haut niveau à l’European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Daniel Koski, et al. dans un rapport de décembre. 

Obama’s election represents the « ideal moment to strengthen the EU-US institutional bond and to develop a new substantive transatlantic agenda, » it argues. 

To accomplish this, Obama should be « invited once a year to the European Council and leaders should have informal discussions about global issues, » the authors believe. As a first step, they suggest, back-to-back EU and NATO summits should be organised, allowing for increased interaction between the two heavyweights « without rushing towards a formalised arrangement of US participation in European meetings ».

Moreover, President Obama should address the European Parliament before the elections in June 2009 to « underscore the importance of stronger transatlantic legislative ties, » the paper argues.

However, as formal institutions are « unwieldy », the authors argue that the EU should also « invest in renewing informal institutions ». For instance, the EU and the US could set up other « contact groups » to discuss specific issues, comprising the relevant EU foreign ministers and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana alongside the US Secretary of State and other American decision-makers.

Indeed, smaller member states « fear EU foreign policy being dominated by big countries, » the paper claims. Therefore, it is vital for groups to « include those countries most involved in any given situation, regardless of their size or standing, » the authors maintain.

To add to this, the US and EU could create a joint conflict prevention task force to « coordinate intelligence about developing conflicts, produce joint analyses and propose conflict-mitigating strategies for discussion by US and European leaders, » the paper suggests. 

Ultimately though, « any progress in transatlantic relations should be built on the foundations of a more coherent EU foreign policy, » the authors concede. Rather than wait for the usual pattern of transatlantic relations to be restored, European leaders must develop their own views on how best to « rescue NATO’s Afghan mission, to respond to instability in Pakistan and to counter Russia’s belligerence, » the paper states.

At a time of considerable transatlantic policy convergence, the « absence of a solid framework for US-EU discussion will see both sides miss out on a valuable opportunity for cooperation on shared challenges, » the authors conclude.