Bush visit a chance to learn whether he cares about Europe

PRESIDENT George Walker Bush is once again coming to Europe and is due to visit Brussels on February 22.

This will be the first major trip of his second term and the first time he will visit the European Union institutions.

The timing has reduced the likelihood of his getting a tough talking-to as there appear to be no plans for him to address the European Parliament. All MEPs, including those who can be relied on to express their opinions forcefully, should be in Strasbourg for their plenary session.

Whether this is the result of careful planning or not is a question nobody seems to care about.

He will meet the European Commission and the council of heads of state and government of the 25 member states in Brussels, after he has visited NATO. Officially Europe is viewing the visit as Mr Bush reaching out to friends and allies.

The theme will be moving forward the Transatlantic Relationship but finding areas in which this can be achieved will be difficult.

Since the schism in Europe over supporting the Iraqi invasion, the member states have got better at concealing their differences publicly. But the EU as a whole appears to be moving closer to accepting it can have its own policies and pursue these even if Washington disapproves.

This was obvious at the world economic forum in Davos in Switzerland last week when any apparent criticism of US policy got a round of applause.

The EU’s growing confidence shows in several areas. For example, it continues to encourage countries to sign up to the International Criminal Court Treaty despite the US pressuring countries not to ratify it or to agree to exempt the US from its provisions.

Britain’s Tony Blair and France’s Jacques Chirac were not afraid to put global warming top of the agenda in Davos despite the US campaign to bury the Kyoto Protocol.

Europe cannot be accused of working against the US in its fight for democracy and against tyranny. It is contributing to the battle against terrorism, introducing biometric identifiers to passports and visas, ramping up security at ports and airports and exchanging information with US agencies.

Most EU members are prepared to give reconstruction help in Iraq now and we can expect to see much greater involvement after the elections.

Diplomacy will no doubt reign for the visit and the mood music will be pleasant enough. The External Relations Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, told the Parliament, “On both sides of the Atlantic rational diplomacy and dialogue must be the order of the day.”

Everybody says the transatlantic partnership is vital. But increasingly its future depends on whether the US wishes to dominate or to partner Europe. The coming visit may give some valuable indications.