New European Union Ambassador Bruton To Stress Improving Relationship With U.S. by Craig Mauro Talk about hitting the ground running. The same week in December that Ambassador John Bruton presented his credentials to the White House to become head of the Delegation of the European Commission, President George W. Bush announced that he would be visiting Europe in February. As Bruton and his staff at the European Unionís West End headquarters began preparations for that trip, the tsunami hit South Asia, setting off a massive coordination effort among world governments to support the regionís disaster-struck countries. Not only is Bruton, a former prime minister of Ireland, juggling those tasks amid the loaded schedule of an ambassador, he is also beginning to climb his own personal learning curve. The EU envoy job is Brutonís first diplomatic post following a 35-year career in politics that began with his election to the Irish Parliament at the age of 22. During his premiership, Bruton steered Irelandís economy through a transformation that made it one of the fastest growing in the world. He also invested considerable time and efforts in the Northern Iris h peace process that led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. As prime minister, Bruton presided over the Irish EU presidency in 1996. The transition from politician to diplomat shouldnít be too difficult for the personable and articulate Bruton, but the devil can be in the details. And in helping to manage the European-U.S. relationshipóarguably the most significant economic and political alliance in historyóthe details are vast. Agenda items range from corporate trade disputes and the arms embargo on China to reforming the United Nations and coordinating strategies on key global issues, such as Iraqís reconstruction, how the West should deal with Iran and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Iím getting up to speed as quickly as I can on the details," Bruton said. "In diplomacy you have to deal with these matters in a much more precise fashion, whereas the broad brush sometimes suffices in politics." Bruton comes to his new job at a time when leaders on both sides of the Atlantic have signaled the need for a fresh start in the EU-U.S. relationship. Although itís not unprecedented that the European Commission chose a politician as its representative in Washington, the selection of Bruton is significant. An Irishman with close ties to the United States, Bruton likes to point out that he has several U.S. credentials, including being named a general from the state of Washington, a citizen of Sioux City, Iowa, and an honorary Texan, a title bestowed on him by then-Gov. George W. Bush. Among the framed photos in his office, one prominently displayed shows Bruton during an address to a joint session of Congress in 1996. "The trans-Atlantic partnership will be the healthier for recognizing that there can be serious issues on which we disagree, both across the Atlantic and within Europe," Bruton wrote to President Bush in an introductory letter, stressing that "vital work" remains to be done. "I believe this work calls for more telephone, less megaphone." So far "all the signals are very positive" that the Bush administration is ready for a fresh start to things, Bruton said. He called it "both symbolically important and important in substance" that Europe is Bushís first foreign destination in his second term. "Heís clearly reaching out to the European Union." Bushís February itinerary includes stops in Germany and the Slovak Republic, but it will also take him to the European Commission and the European Council in Brussels. The latter shows that "heís recognizing, if you like, the separation of powers in the European Union, which is important because it shows a depth of understanding on his part of what the European Union is," Bruton pointed out. Both sides spent January working on the substantive agenda for Bushís trip. "Weíre looking to substantial discussion on the Middle East, both in terms of the Israel-Palestine issue but also the promotion of democracy throughout the broader Middle East," Bruton said. "Weíre going to emphasize the need for us to work together even more closely to deal with common threats, whether that be terrorism or natural disasters. Europe and the United States must and can resolve these problems together. If we donít, if we fail to work together, all we can do more or less is to stop things happening, whereas if we work together, we can possibly promote constructive change." The European Unionís role in reconstructing Iraq will also be on the agenda. Despite the rift between the Bush administration and some key EU members over going to war, a stable Iraq is in Europeís best interests, Bruton said. "The present development is pointing toward a democratic, stable, rule-based society in Iraq, and we must support it in whatever way we can," he said. "Iraq has taught us all useful lessons, maybe very expensive ones, but very useful lessons just the same," continued Bruton. "The experience of the last two years has been educational for both the proponents and the opponents of the U.S. intervention in Iraq." The lesson for those who opposed the war, he said, is that the institutions of multilateralism must be more effective and agile. "There has to be a recognition that if you have these institutions, if they are to be used, they must be reasonably quick in making decisions," Bruton said. On the other hand, the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has shown that gaining control of a territory may be within the capabilities of one nation, but maintaining that control over the long term requires a large number of troops and resources that are beyond the capacity of any one country. "In the longer-term process of transforming societies toward more democratic and peaceful norms, youíre going to need the help of othersóyou need multilateralism," Bruton pointed out. At home, the European Union is embarking this month on the process of asking its citizens to approve a new constitution. Spain will be the first country to hold a referendum on the document, to which Bruton is intimately linked. He was a leading member of the caucus that drafted the constitution, which was signed in Rome last October. To take effect, all 25 EU member states must ratify the constitution. A failed approval process would not mean the end of the European Union, Bruton said, but it would go a long way to simplifying the unionís sometimes notorious bureaucracy and regulations. The new constitution would also strengthen how the European Union handles cross-border crime and its foreign policy, bringing its direction under one minister. Referendums may not be the ideal way to build a complicated political union, although its voluntary nature reflects the very essence of the European Unionósomething Bruton said he stresses when speaking to U.S. audiences. "What weíre doing is building a union in a way that most states have not been built. Weíre building a union by voluntary, peaceful methods, whereas most states came into existence across the world as a result of wars or some exercise of coercion," he said. "Thereís no coercion involved in the creation of the European Union. And that makes it both one of the most exciting and idealistic things that has been attempted in the 20th century, but also one of the most occasionally difficult and messy." Craig Mauro is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C.