The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a nonpartisan europe-wide thinktank, has issued a policy paper on the paths European Union members should approach with regard to their relationship to the USA.
The full statement can be downloaded e.g. here.
In essence, it pretty much calls on EU member states to ditch and deny US efforts at bilateral relationships, and instead form a European position to bargain with the US from a strong position. "Assertion, not Ingratiation".
It highlights three particular situations where EU member states and their appreciation by the USA are at odds (Afghanistan, Russia, Middle East Peace Process), and how a unified assertive approach could have and in the future would yield favourable results (for the european state of course, not the USA).
Previous policy papers by the same group focussed on the EU-China and - in particular - EU-Russia relationships, as well as potentials of joint European policy within UNO.
The full statement can be downloaded e.g. here.
In essence, it pretty much calls on EU member states to ditch and deny US efforts at bilateral relationships, and instead form a European position to bargain with the US from a strong position. "Assertion, not Ingratiation".
It highlights three particular situations where EU member states and their appreciation by the USA are at odds (Afghanistan, Russia, Middle East Peace Process), and how a unified assertive approach could have and in the future would yield favourable results (for the european state of course, not the USA).
Previous policy papers by the same group focussed on the EU-China and - in particular - EU-Russia relationships, as well as potentials of joint European policy within UNO.
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