Vertrekkend ambassadeur in VS: Europa moet zichzelf meer serieus nemen (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Union has to learn to take itself seriously before it can expect the United States to treat it as an equal, the outgoing EU ambassador to the US has warned.

Speaking before the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament on Thursday (29 July), Günter Burghardt said that getting Washington to treat the 25-nation bloc as a partner "depends on how seriously we take ourselves" adding "that is something only we can manage".

The German diplomat said that while there is an overall general will by the EU to "enter into a partnership of equals" it is undermined by the fact that some member states continue to accord bilateral interests more importance.

Refusing to comment on whether George W. Bush will be re-elected in November and what it would mean for transatlantic relations, Mr Burghardt said that, in 2005, the ties should be renewed anyway.

Renewing the ties

He said that the transatlantic agenda has not been updated since 1995 although since then the European Union has undergone its biggest enlargement ever and agreed a new Constitution.

He says the Constitution will allow Europe to be taken more seriously as now the EU is represented by the head of the EU Presidency, the European Commission President and three foreign ministers - from the EU presidency at the time, Chris Patten (external relations commissioner) and Javier Solana (EU High Representative).

Under the new Constitution, Europe's foreign policy will be the domain of the new EU foreign minister.

Extreme neo-cons out?

The ambassador, who is expected to be replaced later this year by former Irish prime minister John Bruton, does not deny that there are, and will continue to be, fundamental differences between the two sides.

One of them is the two different attitudes to the "notion of sovereignty". The US sees its sovereignty as "unlimited" he said and this will not change whereas the EU is more about "joint sovereignty" and "multilateralism".

The vast majority of the questions Mr Burghardt received from MEPs centred around the idea that Washington and the US President do not take Europe seriously and whether the ordinary American had any interest in Europe.

By way of reply, he said there is still a huge amount of "good will" among Americans towards Europe.

He added that the "extreme" neo-conservatives "are no longer setting the agenda" and that those people who spoke about new and old Europe (famously US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld) have "suddenly dried up".