Since Barack Obama replaced George Bush at the White House, the single biggest issue threatening transatlantic relations has been the rise of protectionism in Washington. The European Parliament can play a role in preventing this from hurting EU-US trade relations since it is the EU’s main interlocutor with the source of most of that protectionism: the US Congress.

The main forum MEPs have for airing their views is the Transatlantic Legislators Dialogue (TLD). Set up 35 years ago, the TLD meets twice yearly, enabling lawmakers to discuss policy issues of common concern. Participation on the EU side has always been strong. Parliament, in a report on transatlantic relations passed in March 2009, called for the TLD to be upgraded to a transatlantic assembly and for Congress and the EP to station liaison officers in Brussels and Washington. An EP official is likely to arrive in DC soon.

RAISING CONGRESSIONAL INTEREST

Historically, US lawmakers’ involvement has been patchier. For one thing, there are no senators on it, only representatives. For another, the congressmen are appointed on an ad hoc basis, not for a fixed term. The US TLD Chair, Shelley Berkley (Democrat, Nevada), is trying to improve things. She plans to create, for example, working groups to follow up on issues raised at the twice yearly meetings and is pushing for senators to be involved. Though the TLD’s agenda is a mix of security and economic issues, Rep. Berkely has placed increasing emphasis on the latter. The TLD has an officially-mandated task of advising the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC), the intergovernmental body set up in 2007 through which the White House and the European Commission try to resolve trade disputes caused by regulatory divergences. The TLD highlighted the TEC in its most recent statement, adopted in Prague in April 2009, notably calling for the TEC to be clearer on what its agenda is.

On protectionism, Congress remains the single biggest obstacle to creating a fully liberalised EU-US aviation market. It recently moved to copper-fasten a law banning any foreign control of US airlines, a move that could kill ongoing talks for a new EU-US Open Sky agreement. MEPs of all political colours tend to be pro-liberalisation on this issue. They could use their contacts with Congress to convince it that permitting Europeans to have a substantial stake in US carriers will not spell doom for US airlines, but could in fact give a new lease of life to the struggling sector.

On climate change, Parliament will try to persuade US lawmakers to enact a cap and trade scheme to fight global warming, one that can be linked up to the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme. Cap and trade-sceptic Republicans, in particular, need to be won over. A related dossier where the Parliament has sway is energy, specifically pushing for setting common standards for alternative energy, such as bio-fuels.

MEPs will try to twist arms on the 100% scanning rule that Congress enacted in 2007, which requires all US-bound maritime containers to be scanned before departing the EU, a rule the EU says could cripple trade without enhancing security. There are signs of US lawmakers being open to persuasion here. Parliament should also continue to pressure the Congress and Senate to support expanding the US Visa Waiver Programme to all EU27 by adding Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Poland and Romania. This is not a given, because some on Capitol Hill do not like the programme, which allows travellers to spend up to 90 days in the US without needing a visa, since they fear foreign terrorists will use it to attack the US. Parliament may try to persuade Congress to scrap a ban it enacted in 2006 on internet gambling, which has badly hurt EU remote gambling operators.

FINANCIAL MARKETS TENSIONS

On the financial markets, both Congress and Parliament agree that following last autumn’s crisis, tighter supervision is imperative. However, tensions have emerged about how to proceed. When Pervenche Berès (PES, France), outgoing chair of the EP’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, met Congressman Barney Frank (Democrat, Massachusetts), chair of the House Financial Services Committee, this March in Washington, they clashed on how to regulate credit default swaps. Frank was wary of the EU jumping ahead of the US in legislating. Parliament needs to engage strongly with Congress now that the framework is still being created to prevent a major regulatory clash occurring later.

Data privacy will be an interesting dossier to watch. In the past, Parliament has criticised the Commission for too readily agreeing to give the US access to EU personal data, notably on air passengers (PNR) and banking transactions (SWIFT). MEPs will continue to put pressure for ongoing talks on common EU-US data protection principles to conclude in a legally binding agreement. They may demand that the existing EU-US PNR agreement be renegotiated, especially as their powers in this area increase under the Lisbon Treaty. But how strident it will be on data privacy is unclear since there is an internal left-right split on the issue, with the Liberals holding the swing vote.

Parliament should continue to push the US on human rights - for example urging it to abolish the death penalty and recognise the International Criminal Court. But its impact is likely to be marginal here, as it will on US foreign policy in the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. One area where it might be listened to - as evidenced by the MEPs’ 2006 probe on CIA renditions and secret prisons that made waves in Washington - is US policy on detaining terror suspects, notably at Guantanamo Bay.

On protectionism, Congress remains the single biggest obstacle to creating a fully liberalised EU-US aviation market