"I am pleased that since the visit of President (George W.) Bush to Brussels in February this year, EU-U.S. relations have further strengthened," said European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso ahead of the Washington meet.

"The backdrop of this summit is much more positive than previous ones," added Gunnar Wiegand, the commission's top official dealing with the United States. "We have had our occasional differences but now we work together much better."

At the last scheduled summit between Bush and EU leaders in June 2004, the divisions over the Iraq war were still fresh in leaders' minds and there were deep differences over how to prevent Iran getting its hands on nuclear weapons -- with the Europeans preferring talks and the Americans sanctions.

Since Bush's election, there has been a sea change in the administration's attitude to the EU. Instead of a potential big-power rival, the U.S. government now sees the Union as a partner in the worldwide fight for freedom and democracy.

And instead of attempting to divide and rule EU members by splitting them into "old" and "new" states, Washington is now more inclined to deal with Brussels directly.

"There is a very positive attitude to the European Union in this administration," John Bruton, the EU's ambassador to the United States, told United Press International.

"The signal the president gave by visiting the EU in February was of major importance and that has percolated right down the administration."

Bush's visit to Brussels drew a line under past differences over Iraq and helped improve atmospherics. But in the four month's since the president's trip, EU-U.S. relations have started to move from rhetoric to action.

European leaders used to squirm when Bush spoke about his mission of spreading freedom and democracy across the globe, but in the past months they have been helping the United States do precisely that.

In Afghanistan, Ukraine, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and the Balkans, the EU and the United States have been working together to promote or bolster new democracies.

The two powers sang from the same hymn sheet urging Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. And next week, Brussels will host an EU-U.S. sponsored international conference on Iraq -- something unimaginable a year ago.

During his first term, Bush had a reputation in Brussels as an inflexible, domineering unilateralist.

But EU officials point to three major compromises made by the administration since the president's visit: it has dropped its opposition to Darfur war crimes being treated by the International Criminal Court, endorsed the EU's softly-softly approach toward Iran -- even going so far as to drop its opposition to Teheran's World Trade Organization bid -- and given EU states an extra year to comply with its biometric passports requirements.

The two sides are still oceans apart on the Kyoto climate change treaty, the ICC, treatment of European prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the EU's plan to lift its arms embargo against China and its decision to drop diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, but there is less antagonism and more dialogue on many of these issues than a year ago.

The motto of Monday's summit, which will be attended by Bush, Barroso, Luxembourg Premier Jean-Claude Juncker, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, is "working together as global partners."

Asked how the Union planned to remain active globally, while sorting out its internal problems after the French and Dutch rejections of the constitution, Wiegand told UPI: "The fact that we engage with each other on so many different issues shows that, when it comes to foreign policy, it is business as usual for the EU, regardless of the impact of the constitution discussion."

U.S. officials also appear less worried about the French and Dutch "no" votes than some European commentators.

"There is a dynamic in Europe towards integration and this is just a bump in the road," said one senior diplomat. "Whatever happens to the EU, it would be a mistake to say 'they'll never get their act together.' That just plays into the skeptics' hands."

The EU's constitutional woes will not prevent leaders agreeing a raft of declarations on promoting democracy, bringing peace to the Middle East, reforming the United Nations and fighting terrorism and non-proliferation.

More concretely, the leaders of the world's two biggest trade blocs are also expected to agree a set of measures aimed at boosting transatlantic economic ties.

The EU and the United States already share the largest trade and investment relationship in the world, with some $750 billion in goods and services traded in 2003 and foreign direct investment flows reaching $1.75 trillion in the same year.

But recent spats, for example over subsidies to Boeing and Airbus, have shown that further cooperation is needed to prevent niggling problems blowing up into crises.

Last month, the commission said the two sides should step up efforts to provide mutual recognition of professional qualifications, exchange confidential information on international cartels, ensure easier cross-border travel for "trusted persons" and set up a high-level Regulatory Cooperation Forum aimed at providing legislators with advance notice of upcoming laws.

Most of these proposals are likely to be adopted by Bush and his European counterparts.

Stephanie Henning, a trans-Atlantic fellow at the Brussels office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, agrees EU-U.S. relations have improved in the wake of Bush's visit, but cautions against euphoria.

"Both sides need a successful summit after Bush's charm offensive earlier this year and Europe's recent turmoil over its constitution," she said.

The U.S. analyst also believes it would be wrong to think Bush has undergone a Pauline conversion on Europe.

"Bush may have learned some lessons from Iraq, but ultimately he will continue to make decisions according to America's best interests," she said.

All rights reserved. � 2005 United Press International. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by United Press International. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of United Press International.

Related Links
SinoDaily
Search SinoDaily
Subscribe To SinoDaily Express