What does a coherent and unified European community (now known as the European
Union) mean to the United States? Is it a threat, a competitor, or a partner? Or
is it the three combined together? I think it is the three combined together.
Depending on the situation, whether economically, politically, or military, the
European Union has acted as a threat, competitor or a partner to the United
States. This could be demonstrated using different economic, political and
military examples. First, lets look at the role and involvement of the United
States in the Formation of the European Union. The United States has maintained
diplomatic relations with the European Union since 1953, when the first US
Observers to the European Defense Community and the European Coal and Steel
Community were nominated. In 1961, the US Mission to the European Communities -
now the European Union - was established. The European Commission is represented
in the United States by a Delegation in Washington, which was established in
1954. In 1971 the Washington office became a Delegation with full diplomatic
privileges and immunities. The Delegation represents the European Commission in
its dealings with the US government. It reports on US developments to
headquarters in Brussels and acts as a liaison with other international
institutions in Washington, DC. The European Union and the United States hold
twice-yearly presidential summits to assess and develop transatlantic
cooperation. The EU-US summits bring together the President of the United States
and the President of the European Commission. The EU-US Presidential Summits
started as a result of the November 1990 Transatlantic Declaration. In December
1995, a step forward in the relations was taken at the EU-US Summit in Madrid,
when the European Union and the United States adopted the New Transatlantic
Agenda. Both sides pledged to work together to promote peace, democracy and
stability, foster economic growth and liberalization worldwide, meet global
challenges such as terrorism and environmental degradation, and to build
stronger non-governmental links between the people of Europe and the United
States. Thus, the New Transatlantic Agenda launched an era of cooperation on a
wide range of political and economic issues. This led in 1998 to a further
deepening of the framework for economic relations, when the London Summit of May
1998 launched the Transatlantic Economic Partnership. I would now like to raise
the question " why is the US so keen on its relationship with the European
Union, why is there a great deal of involvement and cooperation between them? I
think the answer to this question goes back to the fact stated in the beginning:
the European Union is a potential threat, competitor or partner to the US. By
keeping a strong relationship with the European Union, the US is trying to
eliminate the threat and competition and strengthen the partnership. The
creation of a single European market has boosted cross-border business, creating
economies of scale, increasing Europe's competitiveness and leverage on world
markets, and providing new opportunities for US exporters and investors.
Nowadays, the European Union and the United States are the two largest economies
in the world. They account together for about half the entire world economy.
They also have the biggest bilateral trading and investment relationship. Both
realized that by working together, they could promote their common goals and
interests in the world much more effectively. Although, the EU and US have a
strong and long-standing economic relationship, it is only more recently that
the EU as such has emerged as a potential partner in foreign policy for the US.
Because of the EU's importance as an international donor and, in particular
since the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union, and its
increasingly influential role in international diplomacy, the EU-US partnership
now covers the full range of foreign policy issues. The EU and the US are also
linked by close security ties and a similar set of values, belief in democratic
government, human rights and market economics. They share a common concern in
handling effectively a wide variety of political and security issues across the
world. Even if transatlantic achievements in the area of foreign policy are less
visible and numerous than in the trade policy field, it is becoming increasingly
evident that, in politics as in economics, where they have common interests the
EU and the US can achieve more by acting together than when they act separately.
This could be seen through the example of Kosovo and the Middle East peace
process. There are other areas, however, where EU-US cooperation still has a
good deal of scope for improvement. In some cases, co-operation has been held
back by internal political factors: in the case of the EU this sometimes
reflects the difficulty of achieving consensus between all Member States. On the
US side, lack of support in Congress for multilateral commitments (such as in
the case of UN financing, the Anti-Landmines Convention and the ratification of
Chemical Weapons Convention) can sometimes be problematic. Different policy
approaches also exist towards certain "countries of concern", and in
particular Iran and Cuba. Whilst the EU fully shares the US's determination to
ensure international security and full respect of human rights and democratic
principles, the EU does not share the US's political strategy of isolating these
countries. In conclusion, I would like to say that diversity of Amercian society
owes much to successive waves of immigration from practically every European
country during the course of the past five hundred years, and this accounts for
the extent to which Europeans and Americans share common values and maintain
close cultural, economic, social and political ties. Both the US and the
European Union understand that the basis for their cooperation is the respect
which each partner has for the other's positions and the recognition that,
whatever the difficulties, they are stronger acting together than acting
separately. Work sited Curtis, Michael. " Introduction to Comparative
Government". HarperCollins Collage Publishers, New York, 1993

BibliographyCurtis, Michael. " Introduction to Comparative Government".
HarperCollins Collage Publishers, New York, 1993