Obama to skip the EU summit : “there is confusion over the summit” US officials say - commentaires

Obama to skip the EU summit : “there is confusion over the summit” US officials say

Of course what you say its true, institutionally speaking.

However,in a political level, we would be hiding behind our fingers by saying that the EU is a totally differentiated player from its member states (especially in external relations) or that the third countries do not see the French-German « axis » behind this whole construction, the US certainly do. Remember also the talks for the European Army or the EU Taskforce, the US and their allies within the EU wanted and succeeded, to include an explicit provision that this project does not run contrary to NATO

US came to Europe when they asked for freezing assets of alleged terrorists,the asked for full data from Europeans traveling to the US (blocked by the EP)all in the name of the war against terrorism and the do the same with the new SWIFT regulations for bank transactions.

Has suddenly the EU become invisible or irrelevant to them ?

For me the US want to pass on the message that they do not want to have the EU as a coordinated and finally reliable player in the international scene. The use the old Kissinger maxim for once again...! OK, maybe I am a bit swift to judge and it is only an issue of time but this is my feeling.My thoughts are a bit oversimplified here but I think you got the idea.

In any case, I agree with the kernel of your article, that is that Europe has a lot of work to do and fight if it really wants not to be sidelined.

Obama to skip the EU summit : “there is confusion over the summit” US officials say

Thanks for your comment Giorgos !

the issue that you raise is interesting as it allows us to underline the multitude of layers which constitute the EU-US relation.

In particular I would argue that US military support requests are addressed to EU Member States in the framework of NATO and not to the EU as such : in this light EU's institutional framework is not really relevant in US eyes.

Obama to skip the EU summit : “there is confusion over the summit” US officials say

Well it seems that Obama's concerns over who to meet are not completely unfounded. However, the US do not seem to care about such institutional arrangements when they ask for more money and fresh troops for the military campaigns (and they will come asking soon...) !