EUROPEAN COMMISSION president José Manuel Barroso has called for deeper ties between the EU and the US, saying the two are “indispensable” allies in the global arena.
In a speech in which he pointed to the limits of American power, Mr Barroso said a convincing response to issues such as global security and economics was “ultimately impossible” without active co-operation between Europe and the US.
He also suggested Europe has already overcome the worst of the financial crisis, echoing the view of European Council chief Herman Van Rompuy that the EU authorities “won the battle on the euro” during the Greek debt crisis.
“This phase of the crisis was the biggest ‘stress test’ that Europe has faced for many decades. We have passed it,” Mr Barroso said.
The bulk of his address at Columbia University in New York, however, was devoted to Europe’s ties with the US.
Mr Barroso has been pressing for a renewal of Europe’s links with Washington after tension over climate change policy and an apparent snub by President Barack Obama when he cancelled an EU-US summit, an event that has since been rescheduled.
Mr Barroso said no other partnership was as intense and rich as the transatlantic one, adding that the EU and US shared the same “fundamental values” of liberty and democracy.
“No country, no matter how powerful it may be – not even the United States – is able to tackle the challenges of the 21st century on its own,” he said.
“We either stand together and prosper or we fall separately. This is a fact of life in the 21st century.”
Mr Barroso, who is known to be concerned that the EU/US relationship is not living up to its full potential, called for joint action on the economy, trade, development policy, climate change and security.
Europe and the US should be to the fore in the G20 group of developed and developing countries as it battles the financial crisis, he said.
“The figures for bilateral trade between the European Union and the United States are quite impressive, at €610 billion last year, but they are still way below what they could be. I see an ample margin to enhance further our mutual interest on regulatory convergence and on non-tariff barriers.”
In light of the disappointing outcome to the Copenhagen climate change conference last year, he pressed for a renewed effort to reach “action-oriented decisions” on that front. “Time is running out, and it is clear that we need to change gear now,” he said.