The European Union remains strong, despite the British vote to leave the organization and Sunday’s Italian vote to reject constitutional changes backed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, the EU envoy to the United States told the Cipher Brief on Wednesday.
In addition, EU Ambassador David O’Sullivan expressed optimism about the future of EU relations with the United States under President-elect Donald Trump.
On the EU, he said the organization is “always a work in progress” and there is “always a debate about the trade-offs between national sovereignty and integration.”
“I think it’s a complete misunderstanding to say the Italian vote was somehow a vote about Europe,” he said, rather than a poll on a domestic Italian issue, noting that there was a mixture of positions on Europe on both sides of the vote.
In addition, he said that after the Brexit vote, “paradoxically, you saw a spike in enthusiasm for the EU” in the other EU member countries, and support for the organization has been “growing rather than diminishing” in polls in recent months.
He noted there is criticism of the EU from those pushing for more, as well as less, integration.
“My general sense,” he said, though, “is that there is still strong positive support for the process of European integration and the benefits it brings, bearing in mind that it is not something which diminishes or obliterates national identity or the nation-state.”
As for U.S. relations with Europe, O’Sullivan said the fundamentals of the relationship remain strong, although the new administration will have different priorities and a new way of looking at many things.
He believes, though, “that the fundamental convergence of interests and values, whether that is in the security and foreign policy field or in the economic and trade field, will continue to carry us forward towards deeper cooperation” – although the “shape and nature” of that cooperation will reflect the new administration’s priorities and policies.
“I remain convinced that the fundamental cross-fertilization of values and interests will lead us to continue to have very strong relations,” he said.
Steve Hirsch is senior national security editor at The Cipher Brief. Follow him on Twitter @stevehirschnews.
