PLANS FOR the annual EU-US summit are in disarray after the White House signalled that US president Barack Obama would not be attending the event.
While the European Commission said the matter was one for Spain’s rotating presidency of the EU, the chief spokeswoman for the EU executive implied that this year’s event would be scrapped or downgraded if Mr Obama did not attend.
News that Mr Obama will not travel this year emerged yesterday in the Wall Street Journal, which quoted White House officials saying the president was scaling back on foreign travel to concentrate on domestic issues.
At the same time, the White House said last night that Mr Obama planned to make an official visit in the second half of March to Australia and Indonesia, where he spent part of his childhood. “This trip is an important part of the president’s continued efforts to broaden and strengthen the partnerships that are necessary to advance our security and prosperity,” Mr Obama’s spokesman said.
While a senior administration official told The Irish Times that there were never plans for Mr Obama travel to the EU summit in Spain, he said the president remained committed to strong relations between the US and the EU. He also pointed to strong ties between the US and Spain.
“We look forward to continuing that relationship,” the official said.
Asked yesterday about the reported decision of the White House, the European Commission’s spokeswoman said the EU executive was not aware “of any such situation as the one you are describing”.
She added: “Normally it’s the case that the summits are summits precisely because they’re attended by heads of state and government.”
The summit, a fixture on the political calendar since 1991, was tentatively scheduled to take place around May in Madrid under the Spanish presidency.
Spain had ascribed great significance to the event in its programme for the presidency. “One of the most important dates will be the summit with the US, which will provide a new boost to transatlantic relations,” the programme said.
This was one of several summits that Spain had planned between the EU and trading partners such as Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean. The busy schedule has been described in jest by a senior Spanish official as “the Guinness book of summits”.
Viewed in European circles as a crucial opportunity for the union to engage directly with a key ally, the EU-US summit typically rotates between a US location and the country that holds the EU presidency. Former US president George W Bush attended one such summit in 2004 at Dromoland Castle, Co Clare, during Ireland’s presidency of the union.
“As far as we’re concerned, we have not a definitive date established for this summit,” said the commission’s spokeswoman.
There was no comment from Spain’s EU presidency. Mr Obama is expected to travel to Portugal this autumn for a Nato summit.
