Summit News:
US President Clinton at EU-US Summit,
then Flies to Berlin
US President Bill Clinton is on a week-long trip to
Europe and Russia. He began his visit in Portugal on Tuesday, May 30, and is
also visiting Germany, Russia and the Ukraine.
On Wednesday, May 31, President Clinton met European
Commission President Romano Prodi and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio
Guterres for an EU-US Summit.
On the agenda was the issue of "the new economy".
This is a term which has been coined to refer to the conception of the
"knowledge-based economy" as opposed to an economy which is based on
the industrial production of commodities, and is being linked to the whole
process of globalisation. The Lisbon summit was said by the Portuguese
Presidency of the EU to be a preparation for an eEurope Action Plan, which is
supposedly designed to accelerate the transition of Europe to the "new
economy". A high priority for the EU in this context is said to be the
objective of "social inclusion", and particularly for every person to
be "equipped with the skills needed to live and work in the Information
Society". Globally, the European Council points to the "digital
divide", and the need to bring the "South" developing countries
into the "new economy" so as to provide markets for the private
sector.
Another topic under discussion was the "New
Transatlantic Agenda". This is said to be based on "shared values and
responsible partnership in promoting peace, stability, democracy and
development throughout the world". The summit pointed to the Balkans as an
example of the cooperation inherent in the "New Transatlantic
Agenda". Southeast Europe, particularly the Balkans, is the main focus for
the "Stability Pact" between the EU and the US, through which the EU
and the US promote "common goals" of "stability and economic
renewal" to the region. The Summit underlined that creating
"stability throughout Southeast Europe is an essential element of a Europe
whole, free and at peace". The Serbian regime in this scenario is made the
"principal impediment to stability in Southeast Europe". In this
connection, the Summit statement on Southeast Europe spoke of the steps
"to support private domestic and foreign investment in the region,
including the activities of the Stability Pact investment compact and missions
of the business Advisory Council".
At the conclusion of the summit, Portuguese Prime Minister
Guterres emphasised the "strategic" nature of the summit, in
particular the "new common security and defence policy of the European
Union" and "its relationship with NATO", as well as relations
with Russia and the Ukraine, and a multilateral approach to dealing with trade
issues. President Clinton, for his part, emphasised the way that
"Europe’s new democracies are joining the transatlantic
mainstream", that "Russia, for all its problems, has completed the
first democratic power transfer in its entire history". He also stressed
that NATO has been "preserved and strengthened" and the the EU
"has brought monetary union into being and made a fast start at a common
foreign and security policy, a development the United States strongly
supports".
The summit also drew attention to the contradiction between
the US and the EU over the plan of the US for its National Missile Defence
programme, sometimes referred to as "son of Star Wars". Russian
President Vladimir Putin is also vehemently opposed to making the changes in
the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty that would allow such a system.
Antonio Guterres and Romano Prodi are reported to have pointed out to Bill
Clinton that if the US creates a network of missiles that could shoot down
incoming warheads, Europe would itself become a vulnerable target, as well as
prompting Russia and China to increase their deployment of nuclear weapons. On
the other hand, President Clinton is said to have voiced the concerns of the US
over the EU’s plans for a European security force operating independently
of the NATO alliance. The position of Tony Blair, according to government
sources, is that he has already spoken to President Clinton about the
anti-missile defence shield and given it his support. US radar and
communications installations in Britain at Fylingdales and Menwith Hill are
involved in the system, which is supposedly directed against the so-called
"rogue states".
The other contradiction that was in evidence was over trade
issues. On May 29, the US had threatened to retaliate against EU export
programmes after the EU rejected US revisions to the so-called Foreign Sales
Corporation programme aimed at bringing it into line with WTO rules. Another
cause of complaint is that the EU has made it known that it would launch an
action within the WTO against the US if it went ahead with a plan to rotate
sanctions on EU goods in the disputes over the European banana imports and the
European ban on imports of hormone-treated US beef. These are in addition to US
objections to European government aid for the Airbus consortium and over a new
EU aircraft noise law which the US says discriminates against their equipment
makers. The resolution that the summit came to was that they would pick up the
phone rather than go public over the development of these disputes, and
negotiate resolutions through the WTO. Antonio Prodi said, "We decided
that megaphone diplomacy would be replaced by telephone diplomacy. This is more
constructive, even if less sexy." However, no concrete resolution of the
contradictions was reached. If anything, they have deepened, since the EU is
now accusing the Clinton administration of refusing to drop the 15 percent tax
break that benefits some 6,000 US exporters – including such vast
multinationals as Boeing, General Motors and Microsoft – and is worth some
$3.5 billion a year. Altogether, Europe and the US together represent more than
40% of world trade, each with about a quarter of the world economic output.
They are also the biggest investors in each other, with trade and investment
flows worth hundreds of billions of dollars or euros each year. However, it is
being pointed out that the expansion of "free trade" itself is coming
under threat with the escalation of these disputes, with the WTO being used as
an instrument in the battle.
On Thursday, June 1, President Clinton met in Berlin with
German President Johannes Rau and with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The German
Chancellor lost no time in warning Clinton against the missile defence
programme, saying, "Neither economically nor politically can we afford a
new round of the arms race." He said that the world, and especially
Europe, needed a solid relationship with Russia and other major states, and was
therefore opposed to undoing the achievements in nuclear disarmament. He made
no mention of President Clinton’s offer the previous day of sharing the
technology "among civilised nations".
It was suggested on the same day by Vladimir Putin that the
US and Russia jointly develop a missile shield, and that he would put the idea
to President Clinton when they meet in Moscow this weekend. A White House
spokesman said that it was premature to say whether the technology could be
shared with Russia.
On Friday, June 2, Bill Clinton is due to receive the annual
Charlemagne Prize for what are referred to as "his contributions to peace
and integration in Europe and for having furthered the close partnership that
has existed between the United States and Europe over the last five
decades". The Charlemagne Prize was established in 1949 to recognise
"the most meritorious contribution serving European unification and the
European community, serving humanity and world peace". Previous recipients
have included Winston Churchill, Francois Mitterrand, Helmut Kohl, Vaclav
Havel, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Henry Kissinger and Tony Blair. Although the
Prize celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2000, President Clinton will be the
40th recipient since in ten instances the Prize committee could not find a
suitable honouree.
On Saturday, June 3, President Clinton will attend a
conference of 14 heads of state and government on "Progressive Governance
in the 21st Century", otherwise known as the "Third Way" or the
"New Centre", which is said to be on how to reconcile centre-left
values with the global competition of the "New Economy". It is
reported that Tony Blair will be conspicuous by his absence. Previous
gatherings on this issue were in New York in September 1998, in Washington in
April 1999 and in Florence in November 1999.
On Sunday President Clinton moves on to Moscow and then on
Monday to the Ukraine.
