Nick Smith, December 29, 2002

Europe has traditionally been a top priority for American international relations: we started as a European colony, American families have European roots, we’ve fought two world wars and a cold war there in the last century, and many of our most important trading partners and military allies have been in Europe. The European Union (EU) is an economic/trade agreement among European countries. The goal is to gain economically by having more trade and association between EU countries. As a member of the European subcommittee on International Relations, I have been closely following recent decisions at the EU summit in Copenhagen. They will have an important impact on future Europe-U.S. relations.

The most heralded decision added ten countries and 75 million people to the EU as of May 2004. By adding Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, the EU will form a market 60% larger in population than the United States with a GDP approaching ours. This sets the stage for the EU to become a powerful economic competitor to the U.S. and we must work to ensure that the EU stays open to American products, especially our agricultural products which have been under increasing attack. As the EU grows, some of its leaders are becoming increasingly ambitious. With its new common currency, the Euro, these leaders feel that they can take a more confrontational position vis-à-vis the United States on economic and diplomatic issues. It is important to watch developments closely.

Another summit decision scheduled consideration of Turkey’s application for membership in 2004. Turkey has been a NATO member and candidate for EU accession for more many years. The delay led many Turks to wonder whether they were being discriminated against. After all, Turkey had helped defend Europe during the Cold War from the ten countries just added. This concern was heightened by former French President Valerie Giscard d’Estaing’s comment that the admission of a Muslim country like Turkey into the EU "would be the end of Europe." The decision is a signal that a Muslim country is not automatically excluded. The Bush Administration pushed hard for this, not only to reward our Turkish allies who have been very important in the war on terrorism, but also to show other Muslim countries that the West does not oppose Islam.

To free agricultural trade, the EU has taken over farm subsidies from member countries. The EU advanced a proposal in Copenhagen to sharply cut farm subsidies. The proposal to cut farm-good tariffs by 36%, export subsidies by 45%, and trade-distorting farm supports by 55% will be a part of the next WTO round. They will try to make sure that American trade subsidies are reduced equally. With EU farmers subsidized more than four times as much as American farmers, these subsidy cuts could help open the EU market to American farm products. Many in the EU, however, are expected to find ways to deny entry to U.S. farm products.

In the future, the EU will be an even stronger economic competitor with the U.S. We need to continue to improve our competitiveness by increasing productivity and having reasonable regulation and taxation. If we don’t, we will face increasing challenges from the EU and the rest of the world.

Nick Smith represents Michigan's Seventh Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.