On a visit to Paris on 16 December, CSIS adviser Simon Serfaty gave an update on relations between the EU and the United States – as seen from the other side of the Atlantic.
"No nation, however powerful, can manage today’s agenda on its own, there are too many dossiers and they are too diverse," he said at a meeting hosted by the Robert Schuman Foundation.
"The United States is more ready than ever to accept a partnership of equals. This was the essence of [President] Obama's speech in April 2009 in Strasbourg. But there has been no real response and this availability may not last,'' he stressed.
Moreover, both parties are operating in an environment that is far from bipolar, he pointed out. "It is increasingly difficult for the United States and Europe to achieve the desired goals even when they agree. The West can no longer be exclusive. Even strong solidarity between them is not enough."
For Serfaty, the only conceivable axis of stability may be a Europe-US one, but a third partner is needed – not China, but India. "Washington seems increasingly to be saying that Europe is desirable but not essential, India is essential but would not be desirable because of internal tensions," he noted.
EU too quiet
Serfaty criticised Europe for not speaking out enough on international issues: "It is too timid in its statements, its positions. If there is unity in the EU, it should be expressed.''
The EU can think in a European way and the United States in an American way but there is clear convergence between the two sides as there is a ''will to act'', he added.
The EU’s timidity is also due to the personalities at the top, Serfaty believes. The Lisbon Treaty created a High Representative for foreign and security policy and a President of the European Council, posts taken by Catherine Ashton and Herman Van Rompuy respectively.
"Lisbon was a little disappointing [for the Americans]. It's as if people voted against the Treaty by appointing people who had neither the qualifications nor the visibility for these positions. This is especially the case for Lady Ashton. There were undoubtedly other possibilities from other parts of Europe. If you add to that the lack of means to set up the diplomatic corps, ambassador choices that were too political,'' he said.
Van Rompuy also took his share of the blame. "This new layer of rather confusing was the reason Obama did not go to the US-EU summit in April 2010. It was not a rejection of Europe but his way of saying he didn’t know who to address," he added.
Unrequited love
The US President is not the biggest proponent of relations between the two powers. Barack Obama is "the least European president of the United States in the past 50 years" and the "least engaged", Serfaty noted – despite being the most popular US leader in Europe for decades.
"He has no particular affinity for Europe or that little something for the Europeans which his predecessors had. He has positions that seem compatible with the Europeans, especially after [George W.] Bush. But he lacks a je ne sais quoi to understand the transformation of Europe. That’s why he showed such impatience about the EU summit."
Serfaty remains confident about the future of the EU, however. "I still believe in the idea of Europe - because there is absolutely no alternative for its continuation alongside the rest of the world,'' he said.
Brussels wants US telephone number
In the meantime, European Justice and Fundamental Rights Commissioner Viviane Reding criticised the US for having shown little interest in negotiating with the EU a deal to protect the private data of European citizens during terrorism probes.
In what appears as a remake of the so-called "Kissinger question" ('what is the EU's telephone number'?), Reding lamented that Washington had not yet appointed a negotiator for the data protection agreement.
"I certainly can wait for a few days. But I expect to be given the telephone number of the US chief negotiator before the end of the year and seriously start the talks," she said, cited by AFP.
A deal on passenger data is crucial for European airlines since the transfer of such information is a condition for flying to the United States, a country still marked by the September 11, 2001 plane suicide attacks in New York and Washington.
