I am very happy to have the opportunity to speak to you today! Luxembourg and the Sacred Heart University have close links, and it is therefore a special honour for me to address you. The issue I want to talk about is dear to my heart, and a very logical one for a European Foreign Minister visiting the United States: I am going to talk to you about the relations between Europe and the United States, which are so crucial to peace and stability in the world.
You are a good example of true-life efforts for the sake of Transatlantic understanding: the Sacred Heart University is present in the US and in Europe, and brings together European and American students and professors, serving as one of the many bridges between our continents and our peoples.
Europe and America are very tightly linked, first and foremost by our history. Europe will never forget that it owes America its liberation and its freedom. While these emotional links remain strong, our diplomatic and political relations are the bedrock of the international community, and our trade relations dominate the world economy.
The European Union and the United States are indeed the two largest economies in the world and account together for about half the entire world economy. The EU and the US have also the biggest bilateral trading and investment relationship that exists in the world today. Transatlantic flows of trade and investment amount to around 1 billion US dollars a day, and, jointly, our global trade accounts for almost 40% of world trade. Around 7 million American jobs are supported directly or indirectly by EU companies, and the figure is roughly the same for European jobs depending on US firms. In view of these solid facts, it is evident that by working together, the US and the EU can promote their common goals and interests in the world much more effectively.
In its Security strategy of December 2003, the European Union has stated that the Transatlantic relationship is irreplaceable, and that, acting together, the EU and the US can be a formidable force for good in the world. Nothing could be truer: Europe and America need each other, in a balanced and effective partnership, to deal with the threats and challenges of our complex world.
The European Security strategy also identifies terrorism as one of the major threats to peace and security of our peoples, as does the American National security strategy. 9/11 (Nine Eleven), which we commemorated just a few days ago, has changed the world, and our perception of the terrorist threat. Like the US, Europe takes the fight against terrorism very seriously, and we are working hard to find the right balance between security, and the safeguarding of human rights, of our common values and principles of civil liberties and freedom.
It is in the field of the core-values on which our societies are built that we are, at this very moment, facing difficult transatlantic discussions. I want to start out with this burning issue, which is making headlines in Europe right now. As you know, Europeans were profoundly disturbed at the rumours, at the end of last year, of the existence of secret detention centres on European territories, as well as of detention and interrogation practices that might not be in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention. In his recent speech on the progress made in the fight against terrorism, President Bush has now confirmed our preoccupations. You might have heard some of the reactions from the European public, as well as in our Parliaments and administrations.
The European Parliament, as well as the Council of Europe, had been particularly active in investigating the cases of alleged rendition, of prisoners transiting through European territory without the knowledge of national authorities, and of secret prisons in European countries. They are understandably shaken by the recent admissions by the President.
We in the European Union are as committed as you are to combat terrorism effectively, using all legal means and instruments available. Terrorism is a threat to our system of values based on the rule of law. We must however be sure that in combating terrorism, we do not ourselves damage our democratic and legal institutions. Human rights and humanitarian standards have to be maintained while we combat terrorism. The existence of secret detention facilities, or the secret detention of persons in a legal vacuum, are not in conformity with international humanitarian law.
We have also expressed our serious concerns about Guantanamo Bay. It is therefore a welcome development that the US authorities are willing to submit detainees to fair trials in the near future, which hopefully will allow them to close the facilities in Guantanamo in due course. I am sure that this would greatly help our relationship, and would make it so much easier for Europeans to revert to their almost innate trust in our American partners.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am convinced that together, we can overcome these difficulties as we have managed to overcome our divergences when the United States went to war in Iraq, a war which a number of European countries, among which my own, could not support. We worked hard on both sides of the Atlantic to come to terms with this crisis. Although we have been divided about the original intervention in Iraq, Europeans and Americans are now united in wanting to see stability, democracy, security and the rule of law established in Iraq.
I am happy and proud that an important stage in the relaunching of transatlantic relations, in the recent past, took place when Luxembourg held the Presidency of the European Union, during the first semester of 2005. President Bush started his second Presidential mandate with a visit to Europe, where he met, as the first US President ever, with the leaders of all EU Member States, as well as with the heads of the EU institutions. The European Union very much appreciated this gesture of outreach which reaffirmed the close link between Europe and the US, and sent a clear signal that the United States viewed the Union, and not simply its 25 individual Member States, as a true partner.
It was also during the President’s visit that we decided to co-host an international conference on Iraq, to provide a forum for the then new Iraqi Government to present its priorities, vision and strategies for the period leading up to the next elections, and to mobilize international support for the Transitional Government and its institutions. This conference took place on 22 June 2005 in Brussels and brought together over 80 countries and international organizations. By organizing it together, the EU and the US demonstrated their unity of purpose for the new Iraq. Unfortunately the hopes we had then for a rapid improvement of the situation allowing inter alia for a withdrawal of the coalition forces have not fulfilled : today still some 100 people are killed every day through violent acts in Iraq. This can’t continue !
I myself met my colleague, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, at several occasions during those six Presidency months, and it was during these meetings that we had the occasion to review transatlantic cooperation across the board. Together, we also prepared the traditional EU - US summit, which gave the transatlantic relationship a new impetus in a large number of fields and set important orientations for our future cooperation.
We addressed issues of common and of global concern reaching from the situation in the Middle East or in Africa to the fight against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and against terrorism or the universal importance of the Organisation of the United Nations sixty years after its creation. And we discussed a variety of concrete common actions and initiatives, to translate a newly harmonized and balanced relationship into action.
This, Ladies and Gentlemen, dear Students, was a turning point. After months of TALKING ABOUT our relationship, we inaugurated a new period of DOING transatlantic relations, pursuing our common goals and the defence of our common values. The EU and the US have indeed a very wide joint agenda. Let me mention only a few examples: the fight against poverty and disease; the promotion of human rights; the spreading of democracy and the prevention of conflict; the fight against terrorism and proliferation; or the economic and trade liberalization. Over the last few years, our relationship has changed into an issues-driven cooperation, with a record of fruitful coordinated actions in different parts of the world.
It is cooperation between partners, friends and allies, cooperation between two global players. The EU has indeed come a long way since its creation: it started out as a peace project, aiming at bringing together the nations and the peoples of Europe. As a peace project, it has been outstandingly successful. As an economic community, with a single market, it soon asserted its position on the international scene. And as the Union grew bigger and expanded its fields of competence and of responsibility, its relations with the rest of the world evolved accordingly.
Today, the European Union has a population of 450 million people - more than the United States and Russia combined -, it generates a quarter of the world’s wealth and gives more aid to developing and poor countries than any other donor. The euro, our common currency, comes second only to the US dollar on the international financial markets. The EU has become a world player, and it is willing to take its responsibilities on the global scene. To spread the peace and security that lie at the heart of the European project beyond our borders, the European Union has developed, over the last fifteen years, a common foreign and security policy, as well as a common security and defence policy, that allow us to deliver on our commitment to act as a force for stability and understanding in the wider world.
The common security and defence policy of the Union, our very own strategic concept to address threats where they arise, from regional conflicts, terrorism, proliferation or in failed states, is constantly expanding, providing the EU with credible means to intervene and act around the world, in the military as well as the civilian field. European forces have been deployed in many different countries. For example in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where we have taken over from NATO forces, or in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where a European military mission, as well as a police mission, have completed their peacekeeping activities, and where an advisory mission is now assisting the authorities to modernize their country and to undertake reforms to strengthen the rule of law.
In July this year, a European force has contributed, in cooperation with the United Nations Mission in Congo, to securing the first free and democratic elections in forty years in this war-torn country. Another EU mission, this time in the civilian field, is the monitoring mission in Aceh, in Indonesia, which oversees the implementation of the peace agreement. To assist the Iraqi people to build a peaceful and secure country, the European Union is training senior Iraqi officials and executive staff from the judiciary, the police and the penitentiary in the fields of management and criminal investigation. More than 700 judges, senior magistrates and police have already participated in the EU-sponsored training.
In most of these cases, the European Union was the obvious choice as peacekeeper, advisor or observer, because it was acceptable to all forces and actors involved, or because it could react quickly and efficiently, without intervening in a too disruptive fashion.
The most recent example, where the European Union Member States showed rapid and efficient commitment, is taken from the Middle East, where peace and stability are of the utmost concern to Europe as well as to the United States. Answering to the Secretary General’s urgent appeal to UN members to commit troops, the EU Member States are contributing some 7000 troops, as well as naval and air support to the United Nations Mission in Lebanon, after the recent crisis with Israel. As the UN Secretary General put it, the "back bone" of the reinforced UNIFIL will be European.
I know how much our American partners appreciate this European effort, in a region where the EU is seen as an honest broker, whereas the United States has more difficulties to take on that role. I believe it is natural that partners such as the US and the EU define complementarities in their global engagement, and support each other in executing their complementary tasks.
I am happy that the US administration today recognizes Europe as a partner, who assumes its part of international responsibilities. The United States has played a critical role in European integration and European security, in particular through NATO. The end of the Cold War has left the United States in a dominant position as a military actor. However, no single country is able to tackle today’s complex problems on its own, and Europe is committed to doing its share to contribute to their resolution. The EU is today one of the most visible international actors, as warranted by its contribution to world trade, world development aid or defence spending. And the United States is aware of it.
I am sure that it is not easy to understand the European Union and its workings - after all, it is a coordination of 25 and soon 27 States, a heavy machine, with a very original way to function. There are internal hick-ups, once and again, and we are currently striving to overcome the difficulties created by the two negative referenda on the European Constitution. Nonetheless, the world is constantly asking for more Europe. The times when Henry Kissinger could claim that he could not deal with Europe as a partner as long as it did not have a single phone number he could dial are definitely over : our American partners have grown used to our very specific and unique institutional framework.
One of the defining moments of our new cooperation, and a very good example for our potential has been the Iran nuclear file, where the European Union has taken the lead in negotiations with Iran, while cooperating closely with the US, as well as other P5 partners, in defining the strategy to tackle the problem. I remember intense discussions with Secretary Rice during our Presidency of the European Union. We had the same objective, in the US and in Europe, and that was and still is to prevent Iran from acquiring the nuclear bomb. We however had different ways to try and reach this objective. We managed to overcome our differences in approach, and the US have trusted the European negotiation track, which we hope will, in cooperation with the action of the UN Security Council, turn out to be successful.
I could mention Belarus, or Ukraine, or Darfur, or Afghanistan as other examples where the EU and the US joined their efforts in a very successful way. We have for example been able to exert a considerable amount of pressure on the dictatorship in Belarus as we carried out diplomatic demarches together, showing unity in the Western camp. This is the field of democracy promotion, in which we must pursue our common efforts.
I could talk at length about our fruitful and necessary cooperation in other fields, such as economics and trade, the fight against terrorism, or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Let me mention one more issue that I care a lot about and which it is particularly timely to mention, as I am here in the United States at the occasion of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
As you know, the European Union and its Member States are strong supporters of multilateralism, and of the United Nations system as a whole. We do indeed believe that in a world of global threats, global markets and global media, our security and prosperity increasingly depend on an effective multilateral system. Our objective is the development of a stronger international society, well functioning international institutions and a rule-based international order.
I very much deplore that the United States and Europe are not always on the same wavelength, when it comes to our world organization and the fundamental framework for international relations. Multilateralism promotes consensus and provides legitimacy in international relations, therefore representing a value that we should pursue on a principled basis, and not only selectively or on a case-by-case basis.
The multilateral route can not be an occasional choice, it has to be a continuous commitment if we want to make the multilateral system work. International organisations might be slow, and frustrating to operate within, and we should certainly strive to make them more efficient, but that is not a reason to abandon them. Our own national administrations are sometimes frustratingly slow, our EU institutions can be a burden, your coordination between agencies or relations between the federal and the state level can be fastidious, but we would not for a minute think of abandoning them.
Multilateral relations require understanding and tolerance, compromise-building, lobbying and convincing, all skills at which the Americans excel. There are many multilateral mechanisms that address those threats which we face in common, as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, or the global warming, and we should make good use of these organisations. They are a good way of engaging third countries, in the pursuit of our objectives. We Europeans strongly believe in the International Criminal Court as an instrument to fight impunity, in the logic of the Courts we installed together to judge war criminals in the Former Yugoslavia or Rwanda, in the spirit of the most precious goods we share: universal human rights and dignity.
This is a plea, to the young Americans that I have in front of me today, as well as to the older ones, in favour of a more straightforward commitment to multilateralism. With the United States on board, we have an enormous weight on the international scene, and we can influence it. Without the US, without that formidable example that you can be to the world, many third countries don’t feel any pressure to comply. I believe that if we together promote a United Nations better oriented towards the threats and challenges of our time, and more effective in the way it operates, we will be able to create a new international consensus to manage the burning issues of our time.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
You might think that I have painted a somewhat mixed picture of the relationship between the EU and the US, but I do not want to be mistaken. We tend to talk more frequently about our divergences and misunderstandings than about the things we have in common, and those we do well together, but we could find hundreds of examples of good, practical and efficient cooperation between EU and US which, added up, provide for a strong transatlantic understanding.
I am confident that our relationship is solid enough not to suffer lasting damage from our current divergences over issues in the field of international humanitarian law, if we do not lose sight of our common values. We have a great number of success stories to show for, and we have come a long way since our disputes over the Iraq war.
I have, however, the impression that our publics have not followed the incredible development of transatlantic relations, and that they do not always see the fruitful cooperation that we maintain. Despite the many, many contacts between EU and US officials, the high level meetings, the concrete outputs of our cooperation do not always find their ways into European and American ears, eyes and minds. The German Marshall Fund published, just a few days ago, its traditional study on transatlantic trends, which feels the pulse of US - European relations. In European, as well as in American minds, the transatlantic relationship appears to be lukewarm at best, and many believe the relationship has worsened over the last year. This is in contradiction to what we, politicians and officials, conclude from our day-to-day business with each other! Yet, the study finds that Europeans and Americans have largely the same threat perception, they are afraid of the same things, which provides a good basis to address these threats in common.
Dear students,
Over the last years, the EU - US relationship has matured into a strong partnership. It is as friends and partners that we should seek to preserve and to foster it. It is important that we do not forget to communicate about it to our respective publics. We share common values, and we have to continue to defend them together in a globalized world. Acting together, the EU and the US can be a formidable force for good in the world. Let us therefore continue to DO transatlantic relations, rather than to TALK ABOUT them. Enough talk then !
Thank you very much for your attention.