Lisbon and the future of US-EU cooperation

Reaching across the pond: Hillary Clinton (right) and her new EU interlocutor Catherine Ashton. Photograph: US Embassy Brussels/Freddy Morris

The United States and the European Union form a community of shared values and a partnership of shared interests. Our 800 million democratically governed citizens are bound together by enduring links of culture and commerce, by our shared history and our common hopes for the future.

The EU is one of our most crucial partners in addressing regional and global challenges around the world. Our shared priorities cover all the major US foreign policy concerns including: stabilising Afghanistan and Pakistan, contending with the Iranian nuclear programme, addressing global climate change, pursuing a permanent and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, managing our responses to the global financial crises, enhancing energy security, and promoting the spread of democratic and market reforms to every corner of Europe.

The US-European economic relationship is one of the central drivers of the world economy. Our links are not just those of shared values, trade, and political traditions, but also consist of the millions of our citizens who travel each year to our countries to work, to study, or simply to visit.

In view of all of these ties, the Obama administration welcomed the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on December 1, 2009. We believe that this treaty marks a milestone for Europe and for its role in the world. The new and strengthened institutions it creates will further promote the evolution of the European Union toward a more consistent, coherent, and effective foreign policy.

We believe that a strong and cohesive Europe is very much in the US national interest, and we look forward to the development of these institutions and to engaging with their new leaders, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and High Representative Catherine Ashton, as well as with President José Manuel Barroso of the European Commission, and the leaders of the European Parliament.

We are hopeful that a permanent presidency of the Council will allow for the development of a long-term consultative relationship at the head of state and government level.

The new high representative will combine responsibility for EU foreign policy coordination with a greater capacity to make strategic use of the EU’s substantial foreign assistance budget. Our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with High Representative Ashton during the Secretary’s December 4 visit to Brussels and they have spoken about an early visit by Lady Ashton to Washington. The new European External Action Service that will support the high representative will ultimately function as a diplomatic service for the EU and offer counterparts for US officials.

The EU also continues to take steps towards fulfilling its vision of contributing as much to diplomacy and defence as it does to trade and economics. Under Lisbon, the EU’s European Security and Defence Policy – which in its ten years of existence has been the impetus for more than 20 EU crisis response missions – is renamed the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The treaty expands the scope of the EU in terms of crisis management deployments, peacemaking, supporting third countries in combating terrorism in their territories, and defence coordination.

It is the policy of this administration to support a strengthened European defence capacity. We believe that the CSDP can make an important contribution to international stability and security. We also believe that NATO and the EU, with 21 common members, can complement each other and should work closely together on their shared priorities. Clearly, there is more than enough work to go around; hence it also makes sense that the two organisations coordinate their efforts to make the most efficient use of scarce resources through minimising duplications of capabilities, infrastructure, and operations.

The United States faces a daunting array of global challenges that no one country can handle on its own. For a variety of critical issues, from climate change to the Doha round of trade talks, from the Balkans to Iran, solutions will require working in close concert with our European partners. We believe that the Lisbon Treaty represents a serious effort by our EU partners to streamline their policymaking process. We understand that, as with all efforts to reform complex institutions, this is a work in progress, and that it may take time for the new institutions to demonstrate their impact. Nevertheless, we hope that the changes brought by Lisbon will make the EU a stronger partner for the United States, and increase the role of Europe on the world stage. We want the EU to be that stronger partner and we intend to do our part to engage closely with the new institutions as we tackle a challenging global agenda together.