Americans
want to join the e.u. Convention

The Europeans are urged to do more to reassure Americans that "the union they are completing will continue to make the United States feel welcome in Europe"

US representatives should have the opportunity to observe proceedings and debates in the European Convention and members of the American executive branch ought to be associated with the work of separate European Councils.

These are some of the wide-ranging ideas presented in a joint declaration by a group of prominent American politicians and former ministers. The group includes former US Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to the President of the United States and Alexander M. Haig, former Supreme Allied Commander of Europe.

The group was established and worked under the Centre for Strategic & International Studies because of concerns over current trends on both sides of the Atlantic. "No disagreement should be allowed to disrupt our relations with our European allies," the declaration, 'Renewing the Transatlantic Partnership' states.

The Europeans are urged to do more to reassure Americans that "the union they are completing will continue to make the United States feel welcome in Europe" and the 18 warn against "Europe's new ability to challenge the United States".
Rather more should be done to reinforce the perception that the 'finality' of Europe is being developed in cooperation with the United States," the declaration says.
PROPOSALS:
It is proposed that US representatives should have the opportunity to observe meetings of the Convention, which is currently drafting a future European constitutional treaty. Such observers in the Convention should not participate to influence, "but to hear and to be influenced by their peers' debate."
Both houses in the US Congress should increase their contacts with the European Parliament and more direct consultations between the US and the European Institutional bodies should be established over the next five years.
Even in the Council, where ministers from the EU member states meet to take decisions, Americans should also have a role. "Members of the US executive branch could be associated on appropriate issues with the work of separate European Councils," the declaration suggests.

The rise of anti-American sentiment
NATO still has a role to play as the central pillar of American partnership with Europe but the gaps between US and European military capabilities are making the transatlantic defence co-operation more difficult. This is why the declaration urges the EU to agree "on minimum levels of real annual growth in defence spending".

Finally the authors are concerned with the rise of anti-American sentiments in Europe and they warn that in turn anti-Europeanism in the US would raise additional obstacles to Europe.

The Declaration was endorsed by Madeleine K. Albright, Harold Brown, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank C. Carlucci, Warren Christopher, William S. Cohen, Robert Dole, Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Stuart E. Eizenstat, Alexander M. Haig Jr., Lee H. Hamilton, John J. Hamre, Carla A. Hills, Sam Nunn, Paul H. O'Neill, Charles S. Robb, William V. Roth Jr., and James R. Schlesinger

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE AND WHAT DOES THIS GROUP SIGNIFY?

These who signed are all associates of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies as are Henry Kissenger and Ehud Barak
The Centre for Strategic & International Studies Europe program is supported by the German Marshall Fund.

For four decades, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has been dedicated to providing world leaders with strategic insights on — and policy solutions to — current and emerging global issues.

CSIS is led by John J. Hamre, formerly deputy secretary of defense, who has been president and CEO since April 2000. It is guided by a board of trustees chaired by former senator Sam Nunn and consisting of prominent individuals from both the public and private sectors.

The CSIS staff of 190 researchers and support staff focus primarily on three subject areas. First, CSIS addresses the full spectrum of new challenges to national and international security. Second, we maintain resident experts on all of the world's major geographical regions. Third, we are committed to helping to develop new methods of governance for the global age; to this end, CSIS has programs on technology and public policy, international trade and finance, and energy.

Our gateway to Asia is Pacific Forum CSIS. Based in Honolulu, Pacific Forum CSIS collaborates with a network of more than 30 research institutes around the Pacific Rim. Forum programs encompass current and emerging political, security, economic, and business issues. Brent Scowcroft chairs the board of governors of Pacific Forum CSIS, and Ralph Cossa serves as its president.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CSIS is private, nonpartisan, and tax-exempt.

The world has some 25,000 popularly-elected politicians in democratic parliaments and they are to unite in the new network "e-parliament" in an attempt to have their voices heard when global decisions concerning trade, environment, epidemics and armed conflicts are taken.

The idea is being promoted by a group of 13 politicians, led by the Swedish Christian Democrat MEP Anders Wijkman, reports Dagens Nyheter in Sweden.

Vice-chairman of the group is the Indian MP Mani Shankar Aiyar. Mexican senator Silvia Hernandez, MP Dora Byamukama from Uganda and Cyd Ho, member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, Derek Wyatt MP, Labour, UK are also participating in the group which includes the Swedish liberal MEP, Cecilia Malmström.

At the moment, the group is canvassing the World Bank, the European Commission, governments and private foundations to raise the money needed to run the project on a larger scale. Some three million euro is needed.

Mr Wijkman sees the project as a first step towards something much bigger: "If we are to have a real democratic world, then we cannot just make do with the UN. In the long term one must imagine a world parliament of a kind", he said.

Press Articles  Dagens Nyheter  Website  e-Parliament   Written by Lisbeth Kirk
Edited by Honor Mahony

EUOBSERVER / SALT&PEPPER - The cultural dimension of European integration is significant because of its deep roots in popular identity. There are signs of concern about the impact of integration on the preservation of national languages and their traditions. A shared history is emerging among the Union's member states that turn away from war.

Theirs is the quest to preserve a culture of peace through the creation of a post-modern polity. The most enduring traits, cultural integration touches upon, are those rooted in national consciousness. Linguistic diversity, historical traditions and the national way of life determine the degree to which culture is a driving force in European integration. This is ultimately a question of the peoples' choice.

Linguistic Diversity - the foundation of Europe's cultural integration
Languages are at the heart of Europe's diverse cultures. In a Union whose member states and institutions interact to create a culture of negotiation, the right to self-expression in one's native tongue is a fundamental way to maintain cultural specificity.

The increasing reliance on English as a lingua franca within the Union is perceived as a threat by the smaller member states concerned about the loss of national identity. The publication of only English-language titles in fields like computer science and information technology poses another obstacle to the use of the Union's other languages by younger generations.

These trends indicate that it is imperative to preserve the use of national languages in Europe. The European vocation to create multi-lingual projects in education is a corresponding priority to achieve popular unity. The most basic element of cultural integration within Europe remains peoples' willingness to learn multiple languages. This is a critical dimension in the realisation over time, of a European consciousness through the rights inherent in EU citizenship.

Historical Tradition - the past as construct for an alternative model
The characteristic of each member state to look back in European history leads, in most cases, to encounters with the glories and defeats of nationalistic campaigns. A shared fate, and an understanding through experience of the tragedies of nationalism, overshadowed the legacy of European culture as most of the Continent lay in ruins after the Second World War.

This led the Founding Fathers of European integration to design a project, the European Coal and Steel Community, which introduced a culture of peace antithetical to the balance of power.

The implementation of this design, and the creation of the subsequent European Communities, was more technocratic than cultural in nature. Clearly integration needs to be more strongly rooted in Europe's culture as the Union expands. There is a sense of unity in the contributions of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment that buttress the alternative model that the European Union can represent in the world.

Here cultural diversity can support unity in a linguistic sense. The use of English and Spanish as dominant languages is likely to emerge as the Union finds its voice in global affairs. A consideration of Europe's cultural relations with the United States over time must be cognisant of this fact. Changing demographics during the next fifty years are destined to alter popular landscapes.

In the Americas, Spanish is emerging as the language of the rapidly growing Hispanic population. Weaker ties to Europe are not an inevitable result of this historical evolution. Steps taken now can build relationships characterised by an awareness of integration as an alternative model. The TIESWeb Miami Congress, organised every other year, seeks to forge cultural bonds as linguistic patterns change European-American relations.

The National Way of Life - a touchstone for cultural unity
European policies that touch upon a country's way of life are sensitive. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is one example given its meaning to French farmers and impact on their traditional lifestyle rooted in an affinity for the land. In the postwar years, West Germany established the reputation of its currency as a symbol of price stability associated with national monetary culture and the German work ethic.

The extent to which the national way of life is influenced by a member state's commitment to European integration is an indication over time of cultural unity. French resistance to CAP reform is driven by popular votes. The transition to the Euro was made possible initially by the vision of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, not the support of the German people. The Spanish leadership obtained an agreement on cohesion funds at Maastricht to strengthen national infrastructure.

Acceding member states vie for limited cohesion funds. Clearly leaders make the choices that drive integration as populations continue to privilege the national way of life. Will the Union's citizens choose the responsibility to preserve a shared culture that offers European unity its most enduring legacy? This is the peoples' choice.
Written by Colette Mazzucelli
Edited by Andrew Beatty

Colette Mazzucelli is the author of France and Germany at Maastricht Politics and Negotiations to Create the European Union. She is a regular contributor to the Transatlantic Visions section of TIESWeb. Mazzucelli is Co-Founder, TIMSSE, Sciences Po Paris and Deputy Director General, IBC, Cambridge
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