Bush’s visit may herald a thaw in EU/US relations

US President George W Bush will make another trip to Europe next year where he is likely to find the atmosphere warmer than in recent years.

He will visit the European Institutions for the first time during the day-long visit.

Luxembourg will be hosting the visit on February 22 as it falls during its EU Presidency.

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn described the visit to the EU institutions as an exceptional event which should enable Europe give a new impetus to the relationship.

Mr Bush will visit the Council, where the Ministers and representatives of the 25 EU members meet regularly. He is expected to meet the heads of government there. Then he will visit the Commission.

Its new head, Jose Manuel Barroso, as Portuguese Prime Minister in March 2003, hosted the council of war meeting on The Azores. With Prime Ministers Blair of Britain and Aznar of Spain they gave the UN and Saddam Hussein a final 24 hours before launching an attack.

As always, Mr Bush will not find himself the most popular US president ever when he comes to Europe. On the other hand his luck - and that of the world - just might change between now and February.

Two of the big problems standing between the two blocs, the Middle East and Iraq, could have improved by then.

The man favoured by the US to take over in Palestine, Mahmoud Abbass, the PLO chief, is the favourite to win the presidency election in the New Year.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is showing unusual restraint at the moment.

The US may throw their weight behind the so-called Road Map peace plan and by February it might just be resuscitated a little.

Another set of elections, this time in Iraq, might prove to be a turning point in the row between some in the EU and the US.

Nobody believes that the elections will resolve very much, least of all turn Iraq into a functioning democracy overnight. But it might allow the EU to put more effort into salvaging the country.

Many European leaders have been annoyed that the US plan in relation to Iraq appeared to be to destroy the place and leave the Europeans and other do-gooders to put it back together again.

The security situation in particular has made it easy for most countries to remain on the outside and limit EU involvement to training civilian police and the judiciary outside the country and funding humanitarian aid.

But the demonstrators might not be as willing to forgive and forget President Bush.

The litany of his actions and failures in relation to international agreements continues to grow. The latest is the move by the Republican-controlled Congress to cut development aid to countries that insist on sticking with the International Criminal Court.

It’s difficult to understand why the world’s most powerful country insists that the Court can never judge American citizens for crimes committed abroad, and tries so hard to get the kind of countries that create despots to agree.

According to US media reports, Congress’s action will affect the US Agency for International Development programmes designed to promote peace, combat drug trafficking, and promote democracy and economic reforms in poor countries.

For instance, the cuts could jeopardize $250 million to support economic growth and reforms in Jordan, $500,000 to promote democracy and fight drug traffickers in Venezuela, and about $9 million to support free trade and other initiatives with Mexico; Ecuador stands to lose $13 million, Peru $8 million and Paraguay $3 million.