FREE ESSAY ON EU AND USA

EU AND USA

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 
Bibliography
Curtis, Michael.  Introduction to Comparative Government. HarperCollins Collage
Publishers, New York, 1993