Global Europe

Today, on November 3, President Obama and Vice President Biden will meet European Commission President Barroso and Swedish Prime Minister Reinfeldt, who is representing the EU Presidency, to discuss issues facing the U.S. and the EU. Such summits have never been popular with U.S. Presidents; in both the Clinton and Bush years they were likened to a dentist’s visit: you knew you had to do it, but it was painful.

Moreover, Barroso and Reinfeldt are in Washington representing Europe the same day German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks to a joint session of Congress. So much for Europe speaking with one voice.

On the other hand, Europeans leaders will be engaging in a single day the leadership of both the U.S. executive and legislative branches – no small feat in a town known for attention deficit disorder when it comes to foreign policy.

The Summit, in fact, follows some vigorous transatlantic weeks featuring U.S.-EU economic and justice ministerial meetings. Both sides exchanged instruments of ratification for two treaties on mutual legal assistance and extradition that offer some forward-looking provisions for future legal cooperation and new tools to combat crime, including terrorism. They agreed to seek mutual recognition of each other’s secure trade programs by early 2010, and to pursue collaborative innovation activities in such areas as health information technology, information and communication technologies, and clean energy technologies products.  U.S. and EU regulators agreed to seek common standards on carbon accounting and energy efficiency; to seek compatible legislation regarding energy efficiency and nanotechnology; and to align their efforts on regulation of hedge funds and other financial instruments. And Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano is flying to Europe for further discussions on securing cyber networks and infrastructure.

In short, the U.S. and the EU have pushed the reset button and are engaged in broad range of issues. At the Summit, however, the EU’s top priority will be climate change, while the Obama’s top priority will be Afghanistan/Pakistan.

The EU wants the U.S. to come to the December Copenhagen climate talks ready to forge a new global framework for carbon reductions. They are not convinced that the U.S. will be prepared to make solid commitments.

European officials are frustrated with the U.S. position, believing it has fallen short on both its level of ambition to reduce emissions and on offering aid to developing countries.

The Obama administration, in turn, has made it clear to the EU that it will be coming to Copenhagen with both different targets and a different baseline than Europe, and that for domestic political reasons it is practically inconceivable that the U.S. Congress will agree to mandatory emissions reductions legislation before Copenhagen. Nor is the U.S. Senate likely to ratify a post-Kyoto treaty without binding commitments from China, India and other major developing countries.

Close U.S.-EU collaboration is likely to be important to securing binding commitments from developing countries, yet the transatlantic partners are still approaching the issue from considerably different vantage points. Instead of agreeing on a legally binding international treaty, it is more likely that individual nations will commit to take steps domestically within some broadly defined framework.

The Obama administration is focused intensely on the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. While NATO allies squabble over their different caveats and await the administration’s decision on whether or not to send more U.S. troops, the U.S. wants the EU to complement efforts in the military realm with a “civilian surge” of capacity and assistance, not only in Afghanistan, but also in neighboring Pakistan. EU foreign ministers agreed on a package of greater civilian support, but have held details for the Summit. Given high U.S. expectations, the EU offer is likely to fall short.

So while the transatlantic partners are engaging each other with a new tone and spirit, each has expectations of the other that are difficult to meet. And the great grab-bag of issues addressed in U.S.-EU deliberations still do not yet add up to a truly strategic partnership that could harness transatlantic potential. But it’s a start.