Good news for true believers in the European Union: this week President Obama will make an appearance at an EU-U.S. meeting in Lisbon. Europhiles haven't forgotten Obama's previous blow to the bloc's prestige when Washington canceled a meeting in May: a no-show widely interpreted as a snub at a moment when Europe hoped to reinvent its global standing.
Yet the awkward question remains: why should Obama bother with the EU? (One easy answer is that he'll be in town anyhow for a NATO gathering). Sure, there are plenty of meaty issues on the transatlantic agenda, from Iran's nuclear program to climate change. But despite the EU's recent Lisbon reforms—which aimed at streamlining decision making—Europe still lacks the unity it needs for a proper partnership with the U.S. "The Europeans need to realize that if they want to be taken seriously, then they have to be relevant," says Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, a London think tank.
Unfortunately, relevance will require a clarity of purpose that the EU still lacks. Take the muddle over who's in charge. Since the Lisbon Treaty, the EU boasts a full-time president of the European Council (Herman Van Rompuy), a president of the European Commission (José Manuel Barroso), and a high representative for foreign affairs (Catherine Ashton). There's also still a rotating presidency that allows each of the 27 countries in turn to set the EU's agenda for six months.
The post-Lisbon shake-up has also ushered in a fresh round of turf wars between EU institutions. The European Parliament in particular—which gained new powers in the treaty—has been keen to flex its muscles, angering Washington by delaying approval of the SWIFT accord, which would allow the U.S. to access European bank data for antiterrorism purposes. And there's been little reduction in the disharmony between member states. Witness the reluctance to bail out the Greeks during this summer's sovereign debt crisis, or the lack of a common EU position at last week's G20 summit in Seoul.
Champions of the EU argue it's still too early to pass final judgment on the new Europe. But the truth is that the hopes embodied in the Lisbon Treaty may never be more than aspirations. When national interests are at stake, it's still national governments that call the shots.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
