BELGIUM: The EU ambassador to the US, John Bruton, has said there is an "almost biblical" focus on good and evil in the United States and that congress is dominated by interests rather than ideologies.
Ten months into what is perhaps one of the most politically sensitive posts in EU diplomacy, Mr Bruton yesterday listed what he termed as the "surprises" he has noticed since starting the job.
Americans see good and evil in all scenarios, he said, because they have the "confidence that they can see the difference" between the two; Europeans, by contrast, feel much more relativist. He is also struck by the feeling that "America still acts as a 19th century state . . . [ that] doesn't easily accept any trammelling of its authority". This is quite different to the EU, whose member states have become used to sharing decisions and devolving power to the EU level. For the EU, "multilateralism is second nature", he says.
Mr Bruton remarks on the extraordinary degree of political partisanship in the country, saying that it "can be paralysing". He contrasts the situation with Europe, where he says it is conceivable that your political opponent today can be your ally tomorrow.
Looking at the US congress, he says that it "becomes a place where different interests are played out". This is because its members are elected on very local issues. In Europe, he feels, the politics and the debate are more "ideological".
But the former taoiseach, who is the first political appointee to the post after a long line of civil servants, chastises Europeans for tending to think that Americans have little knowledge of Europe.
"Americans are not ignorant about Europe, and many have a very deep knowledge of Europe. This is a society that is interested in what we are doing."
He also feels that the general public on this side of the Atlantic has not appreciated the extent to which Washington is taking the EU more seriously.
"There has been a major transformation in the US towards the EU" since the beginning of this year, says Mr Bruton, pointing to President Bush's trip to Brussels in February.
Asked what Washington makes of the EU's internal wrangles over its constitution, he said Americans "don't see every problem as an existential crisis" and understand that there are "political ups and downs".
And as one of those who helped draw up the constitution, Mr Bruton could not resist giving his own remedy for the bloc's problems. He suggests that if EU citizens were allowed to directly elect one of the top politicians, such as the commission president, it would bring them closer to the Union.
"The EU as a project may engage people intellectually; it does not engage them emotionally," he concludes.