EU: The Irish way of doing political business in Washington combined with John Bruton's experience and enthusiasm for Europe won him the EU's job in America, writes Denis Staunton.
John Bruton's appointment as the EU's ambassador in Washington came after almost 15 months of wrangling within the Commission, with senior officials resisting the idea of such an attractive post being filled by an outsider. Mr Bruton was always the favoured candidate of the External Affairs Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, making the former Taoiseach the front-runner for the job once the Commission agreed it should go to a political figure.
The idea of boosting the EU's profile in the US emerged at an EU foreign ministers' meeting near the Greek port of Thessaloniki in June last year. The ministers agreed a heavyweight politician could gain superior access to senior US lawmakers than has proved possible to the officials who have led the EU delegation there in recent years.
EU politicians have long complained about the difficulty they face in arranging meetings with senior US figures. During one visit to Washington, the former President of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, sought a meeting with a leading Republican congressman. The EU delegation was unable to arrange it but the Irish ambassador, Mr Noel Fahey, set up the meeting without difficulty.
Mr Patten, long impressed by Ireland's political network in the US, approached Mr Bruton after he saw the former Taoiseach addressing a meeting of the centre-right European People's Party on the transatlantic relationship. He persuaded Commission president Mr Romano Prodi, and the commissioner in charge of personnel, Mr Neil Kinnock, that Mr Bruton was the right choice.
When Mr José Manuel Barroso was nominated as Mr Prodi's successor, he indicated he would support Mr Bruton's appointment.
Others in the Commission, including the Trade Commissioner, Mr Pascal Lamy, and some senior officials, wanted other candidates considered. Some argued that Ireland was already disproportionately well represented in senior Commission posts.
Mr Lamy has a legitimate interest in the appointment given the central role of trade in the relationship between the EU and the US. Following an interview with Mr Bruton last week, conducted with Mr Patten and Mr Kinnock, Mr Lamy endorsed the appointment, which was approved by the entire Commission yesterday morning.
Mr Bruton takes up his appointment following one of the most difficult periods in the transatlantic relationship for many years. Many European governments and their citizens view the current US administration with deep distrust, while many US policymakers have abandoned their traditional support for European integration.
A survey of transatlantic trends published today by the German Marshall Fund shows almost two-thirds of Europeans regard it as "very, or somewhat undesirable" that the US should exert strong leadership in world affairs.
More than a third of Europeans believe the US and the EU have such different values that co-operating on international problems is impossible and almost two-thirds want Europe to take a more independent approach to foreign policy. The survey shows Americans are better disposed towards the EU than Europeans are towards the US. But Mr Bruton believes US policy-makers and the general public are poorly informed about the EU.
He plans to meet senators, congressmen and administration officials and hopes to reach a wider public through newspaper articles and television interviews.
