Brussels summit: Honeyed words from EU leaders to President Bush seek to disguise deep disagreement among them, writes Denis Staunton.
The statement by EU leaders congratulating President Bush on his election victory had warm words for the transatlantic partnership but also suggested that a fresh start was needed after the divisions over the Iraq war.
"The EU and its Member States look forward to working very closely with President Bush and his new administration to combine efforts, including in multilateral institutions, to promote the rule of law and create a just, democratic and secure world," said the EU leaders meeting in Brussels yesterday.
The statement carefully disguised a deep disagreement over Europe's proper response to the US election result, a division made manifest by sharply conflicting statements yesterday from the British prime minister Mr Tony Blair and the French president Mr Jacques Chirac.
In an interview yesterday with The Times of London, Mr Blair chided unnamed European leaders for their failure to grasp the "new reality" created by Mr Bush's victory.
"President Bush is there for four years. In a way, some people are in a sort of state of denial. The election has happened, America has spoken, the rest of the world should listen," he said.
Mr Chirac was undoubtedly listening to the US election result but the conclusion he drew from it may have been quite different to Mr Blair's.
Mr Chirac met the German chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, and the Spanish prime minister, Mr José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, yesterday morning to discuss, among other things, their response to the election.
Mr Chirac told reporters later in the day that the assertion of a strong US policy made a stronger, more dynamic and more united Europe more essential than ever. He suggested that the constitutional treaty signed in Rome last week would help Europe to bolster its unity in the face of "large powers" in the world.
"Europe today has more than ever the need, the necessity, to reinforce itself and its dynamism and unity. That is the goal of the constitution in a world that is more multi-polar than ever," the French president said.
Mr Chirac's remarks, and the very fact of his meeting with the Spanish and German leaders, evoked anxiety among Europe's more pro-American governments.
The re-emergence of so-called Old Europe after Mr Bush's election win could leave Mr Blair almost isolated in western Europe, with only Italy's Mr Silvio Berlusconi sharing the British premier's enthusiasm for Washington's military adventures.
Hungary and the Netherlands have already signalled their determination to withdraw their forces from Iraq next year and Poland's government is under pressure to follow suit.
Iraq's interim prime minister, Mr Iyad Allawi, did little to improve relations with the anti-war camp in Europe by sneering at "spectators" who ought to help more with Iraq's reconstruction. Mr Allawi sought yesterday to limit the damage his remarks had done, insisting that he meant something else entirely.
"I never said Europe was a spectator... Europe stood with us and Europe is standing with us now... There is a difference of views among European countries but we want to create a constructive dialogue to create stability and peace in the region and that is what we intend to do," he said.
Mr Chirac's remarks yesterday could signal the start of an important debate within Europe about the EU's future role in the world that goes beyond any temporary change in the transatlantic relationship. Such a debate would pit those who believe that Europe can only achieve its foreign policy goals in partnership with the US against others who argue that Europe's interest lies in the emergence of a multi-polar world.
Advocates of a multi-polar future imagine the EU and the US as the strongest and most prosperous players in a world that would also be influenced by the emerging powers of China and Russia. Such an ambitious goal for Europe is likely to lead to calls for greater coherence, not just in diplomatic and economic terms but in the military field as well.