WorldAndUS: Europe – New realities that the U.S. cannot ignore

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March 04, 2005

Europe – New realities that the U.S. cannot ignore

One of the most delicate issues when trying to track “perceptions of the United States in the World” might be to gauge the impact of facts on feelings. In particular of changing realities.

The war in Iraq or the growing trend towards democracy in the Middle East is obvious elements about which much has been written.

There are deeper shift though that deeply affect perceptions… on both sides. This excellent article by Mark Schapiro titled “New Power for ‘Old Europe’” is a case in point.

It shows that decisions taken at the EU level may have a serious impact on major US companies that can’t do as much as they would like about it. Schapiro studies in particular the case of REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals), a directive that:

[...]represents an upheaval in the basic philosophy of chemical regulation, flipping the American presumption of "innocent until proven guilty" on its head by placing the burden of proof on manufacturers to prove chemicals are safe--what is known as the "precautionary principle."

The chemicals industry and the State Department have done what they could to derail it, but it’s difficult to influence a democratic body of 25 countries and a market of 450 million consumers.

Schapiro writes:

When Henry Kissinger was Secretary of State for President Ford in 1977, he famously asked in frustration, "What telephone number do you dial to reach Europe?" Today, the area code for that number is clear: 32-2, for Brussels […].

And he adds:

Every European diplomat I spoke with was careful to insist that Europe's new generation of environmental directives is not intended to "impose" Europe's will upon the United States. Camilo Barcia Garcia-Villamil, the Spanish consul in San Francisco, who spent fifteen years working with the EU in Brussels, comments: "The European Union now has increased decision-making capacity. And if American companies want to be active in the European market, they must take account of European rules. We are not imposing our standards. We are making foreign companies respect our standards when they are in Europe."

Such an evolution might influence perceptions of the US abroad, and of the American perception of the problem.

That is less complicated than it sounds.

On one hand, the US might appear as less relevant to some, less all-powerful. On the other, Americans resenting the loss of importance might be tempted to conclude that anti-Americanism is growing.

That’s not necessarily the case, and still this is an essential shift that can’t be ignored.

What do you think?

Posted March 4, 2005 12:52 PM

Comments

I think Schapiro's article is very relevant for perceptions of America. But I see the effects of the case of REACH (and the like) as having more to do with perceptions of the US than with actual US influence, as Francis Pisani suggests in the last questions of his entry.

I think the whole long-debated issue of minimum standards regarding consumer goods is very influential in the minds of consumers around the world, although primarily in Europe. It seems obvious to me that the EU is the good guy and the US the bad guy in this particular controversy. And I also think that this is the general feeling around the world. The EU fights for less use of dangerous chemicals, a better environment, and less health risks on the part of consumers, whereas the US arguments are primarily based on financial efficiency and low production costs. I think the US is perceived as dominated by big business interests in this case and thus a bad guy in the eyes of the consumers, which likely contributes to negative perceptions of America in general.

Posted by: Frej Jackson at March 4, 2005 02:22 PM

March 04, 2005

Europe – New realities that the U.S. cannot ignore

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