Here in Brussels, the capital of the European world, 11 U.S. journalism graduate students are being hosted by the European Commission for week long conferences with European Union and NATO officials. The purpose of the press visit is to teach a new generation of journalists how to cover Europe for an American audience. It is clear that coverage problems of the EU are immense; most Europeans fail to understand the system, making it even more difficult to relate issues across the Atlantic.

Two of us hail from USC, with other graduates traversing from Northwest, Berkeley, Texas, Maryland and Missouri. On Monday, Research Fellow Sebastian Kurpas of the Center for European Policy Studies explained the political effects of an under-covered EU, including the difficulty of European policy makers to pass new legislation. Most notably, the recent Treaty of Lisbon—which was rejected by Ireland in June 2008 because the content was unclear to the general population (warranting campaign slogans such as: “If you don’t know, vote no”). Kurpas explained that a strong media presence is necessary in Brussels if convoluted political legislation is going to be translated to ground level.

But this is part of a much larger problem. Europeans across the continent view the EU as an elite and disconnected entity—not an overarching system of unity. The fundamental paradox at the heart of the system is a difficult one to grasp: maintaining nationalistic pride and conservative values while promoting the pooling of sovereign power and a shared European community. In practice, this means countries consult with the EU before making big decisions, and the recent financial mess proves that Europeans have not yet achieved this level of oneness. Rather than look for a continent-wide solution to the economy’s downturn, such as a European financial fund —a shared “pot” of emergency money to bail out banks across EU member countries, the sentiment has been “Every man for himself.” The UK began nationalizing banks, Germany pulled a surprise card, Ireland announced that it would guarantee all bank accounts, and everyone started clambering in different directions hoping to save themselves.

And then there is America: a whole other ball game. Officials here tell us that American and European power heads meet face to face less times a year than either country meets with Russia. Yet, the two are financially inextricable. Together, the U.S. and Europe have the biggest trade flow than anywhere else in the world. If one goes down, the dominoes fall quickly across the Atlantic. Recent financial events have been a big reminder of this connection; America’s economic struggle is not confined from sea to shining sea. In Europe, the “real” economy—the effect of economic crisis inside the homes of the population—is already a harsh and oppressive monster.

According to Antonio Missiroli, the Director of Studies for the European Policy Center, taking an individualist attitude is absurd. Global interdependence means that the world cannot return to a time of continental fortresses. European nations cannot stand alone, and many hands must be extended across the Atlantic to steady the Western world in times of turmoil and peace alike.

Europeans don’t feel like many hands have been extended to them from America’s side in the last eight years, and the U.S. favorability rating has maintained a constant low. According to the 2008 favorability rating survey from the EU, America falls in 11th place—one position above Iran. But Europeans are more critical of President Bush than they are of American leadership in general. The 2008 findings of the Transatlantic Trends study show that 36% of Europeans view American leadership favorably, versus the 19% who approve of President Bush’s handling of international policies. The gap between “leadership” and “president” favorability has been a constant since 2002.

Officials here are clearly excited about a change of presidential administration. For the most part, they don’t really care who wins. They’re just glad that Bush can’t run again. When I asked an official from the European Commission what he thinks the new administration needs to do to improve relations with Europe, the answer was “not much”. A simple change will do them good. But whoever takes over the next administration needs to poke their head into Europe a little more often, shake some hands and acknowledge that we need each other.

Tags: europe, european union