Mr Romano Prodi told the EU-US summit in Dromoland Castle on Saturday that Europe has undergone an enormous transformation in the last five years, during his term as Commission president.
The euro is now used by over 300 million people, the EU has enlarged to represent 455 million people, and what he described as the skilful Irish presidency steered its leaders to agreement on a new constitutional treaty. As a result the EU has become an important international actor. It now must work together with the US as a true partner on a more equal basis politically as well as economically.
The summit outcome reflects these new geopolitical realities. Its timing 15 months on from the US-led invasion of Iraq, which led to a deep rift between most transatlantic governments and peoples, gave it unusual political importance, with the Bush administration seeking to mend fences with European allies as the tide of US military supremacy, unilateralism and pre-emptive war which defined it recedes. As a result, substantive agreements on the Middle East, Iraq, combating terrorism and deepening economic relations were reached, along with commitments to work together on HIV/AIDS, Sudan/Darfur and preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and his team have good reason to be pleased with the results from the national and European points of view. They clearly register a shift towards a more co-operative transatlantic relationship, based on a more realistic attitude by the Bush administration on the need for it in an election year. The texts adopted reflect this European input. On Iraq there is support for the new interim government and the multinational force there under United Nations auspices. Middle East reform must be home grown and cannot be imposed from outside, while Mr Bush made a strong plea that Turkey should join the EU, blending its European and Islamic identities. There is a detailed commitment to work more closely on countering terrorism, on the basis that human rights and the rule of law must be respected.
Much of this is work in progress, but the summit has put EU-US relations on a more even plane after an exceptionally difficult period of tension. Mr Bush has failed to secure an EU or NATO agreement to put more troops in Iraq; but there is a willingness to train police and security forces and a mutual realisation that neither EU or US interests would be served if the new interim government collapses before elections next January.
Mr Ahern registered and expressed Irish and European outrage about the treatment of prisoners, which Mr Bush agreed must be addressed. Those who joined protests against the visit will probably not be pleased with the outcome. But they should recognise that these negotiations made a difference. They were reported by visiting US media and heard by their American audiences, in an important manifestation of Irish and European dissent.