Est. 4min 05-11-2008 (updated: 28-05-2012 ) Barack_Obama_04.jpg Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram US President-elect Barack Obama has been invited by European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering to address the EU assembly in Strasbourg next April. Meanwhile, Poettering and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso outlined their views on transatlantic relations ahead of a G20 meeting in Washington on 15 November. The visit of US President Barack Obama to Strasbourg may take place in April, before the 2009 NATO summit, suggested Poettering. “Such a speech would allow you to showcase your approach to transatlantic relations and set out your vision of foreign policy for the years ahead,” writes the Parliament chief in a letter to the new president. Speaking at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels on 4 November, when the US election outcome was still uncertain, Poettering said he expected to see the new US administration at the European Parliament as the institution had become a “co-legislation maker”. Thus far, the only US president to have addressed the European Parliament is Ronald Reagan, who did so back in 1985, Poettering recalled. ‘No’ to capitalism Regarding the upcoming international summits to seek solutions to the financial crisis, Poettering stressed that Europe must commit itself to social market policy. “We are not in favour of a mere capitalistic system: we are in favour of social market policy. We need more transparency and more control in the banking system and in the financing system. The EU is a legislator in this field, as is the European Parliament.” Poettering said he had received a letter from the Commission inviting the Parliament to agree to reform accounting standards to introduce more flexibility. He said he had already signed the letter after consulting the competent parliamentary committee. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has spoken of a “refoundation of capitalism”, while Commission President Barroso, who also addressed the event, refused to use the term “capitalism” due to its negative connotations. Asked by EURACTIV to comment on terminology, Poettering said he had told Sarkozy that he did not like the term “refoundation of capitalism”, adding that at first the French president had changed the term before reverting to his preferred version. “Wording and terms are very important. If you don’t have power over the description, you may lose the campaign. I don’t like the word ‘capitalism’, because it’s without soul. It’s just a materialistic description. Our concept of the human being is the person, meaning responsibility for yourself and responsibility for the community. Capitalism is without human background. I reject it, I have never accepted it and I’m totally opposed to materialism, as the best explainers of materialism were the communists. So I do not prefer ‘perestroika of capitalism’, I rather prefer ‘social market policy’,” Poettering stated. EU well-placed to redesign new global rules Commission President Barroso said the EU was well-placed to play an active role in the establishment and implementation of new global rules to combat climate change and the financial crisis. He said he had received a “very impressive letter” from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, asking the EU to continue its leadership on climate change-related issues. “I really hope that the leaders of Europe will not put in question the credibility we have earned […] I hope that the new US president will not agree on a climate change package before we do so in Europe,” said Barroso with a smile. However, experts recently warned that American support for a global climate deal was far from certain (EURACTIV 31/10/08). Barroso described the election of the new US president as a chance to make sure that, if Europe and America were united, then others would follow. He expressed hope that the Doha Round of WTO negotiations would be resolved quickly and that the new US president would have an open-minded approach to world trade. He appealed to him to “join us for the creation of a more just, more democratic and freer world”. The Commission President said the decisions to be taken soon would have an enormous impact on future generations. He also revealed his thinking on the new world order, in which the West would need to give more space to emerging powers. “I am fully aware that US-EU cooperation, although essential, is not sufficient to maintain the world order. It is necessary to get other critical players on board,” he said, citing China, Russia, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa among “many others”. Read more with Euractiv European Liberals unveil 2009 election manifestoThe European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) became the first EU party to launch an electoral plan for the 2009 European Parliament elections, unveiling their manifesto at a two-day congress in Stockholm last week. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters Positions Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), was less optimistic than the high level politicians he had hosted. He said that in managing the two crises, over Georgia and the financial turmoil, “Europe half-failed, half succeeded”. He said he did not expect the EU to be any less divided on the world scene than before, and he did not see a significant European contribution to reforming the Bretton Woods system except for the compromise that the EU was prepared to make for the IMF chair. “Europe has shown that it can be a reactor. But not an actor on the world scene,” said Gros. Professor Yves Mény, from the European University Institute, was sceptical as to the capacity of Europe to elect a leader when the Lisbon Treaty is enforced. He said that the future EU president may be chosen “not because he is a leader, but because he isn’t”. He said Europe could revert to national politics and intergovernmental cooperation, as well as formats “a la carte”: In his words, “all types of alliances” between different member countries, but not at EU level. He also warned that the European elections in June 2009 “could be tragic” if the EU heads of state and government did not take the lead. Prof. Mény added that there was no debate about the European elections, and the only question that remained was whether the Commission President would be reelected or not. He said it was improper to discuss this issue until the result of the elections became known. Mény also expressed his wish for the Commission to become more political. Professor Loukas Tsoukalis from the University of Athens said he expected the world to become less Western-dominated following the redesign of its financial order. He said Europe was losing from its weight, both in demographic and economic terms, compared to emerging powers. Also, the EU’s influence is not commensurate with its size, he argued, saying that “Europe is less than the sum of its parts”. With Europe squeezed between the global and the national dimension, part of the solution is strengthening the EU institutions, he said. But in his view further integration will have to rely to further differentiation, which is why Europe will have to move ahead “in smaller groups when necessary,” Prof. Tsoukalis concluded. BackgroundAn extraordinary European Council meeting will take place in Brussels on 7 November to prepare the EU's representation to the G20 international summit on the financial crisis, to be held on 15 November in Washington. Only four EU countries - the UK, France, Germany and Italy - will take part in the G20 meeting, at which the US will be represented by outgoing President George W. Bush and most likely by members of the future economic team of President-elect Barack Obama. The other participants are Canada, Japan, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey. Timeline 7 November, extraordinary EU summit, Brussels 15 November, G20 summit, Wasington Further ReadingEuropean Union French EU Presidency:Informal meeting of the heads of state and government of the EU on 7 November French EU Presidency:International summit on the financial crisis on 15 November
