Article 3.1 (e) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU grants the EU ‘exclusive competence’ in relation to ‘common commercial policy.

There is tremendous political capital vested in the euro and it is unlikely that the euro will come apart. Even in Germany, the euro has still a lot of political and popular support. The collapse of the euro and the costs to the European and the world economy would be unprecedented. Equally important, the political costs for Europe would be immense. The credibility of both EU-wide institutions and national governments would suffer a massive blow.

The U.S. Press Corps is particularly present in 5 European Cities: Berlin, Brussels, London, Paris and Rome. The EU needs to be more proactive vis-à-vis U.S. media foreign correspondents.

It is in America’s interest to establish positive relations with Germany. Germany is one of the United States’ closest and strongest allies in Europe. U.S. relations with Germany are based on close and vital relations as friends, trading partners and allies. In the political sphere, Germany stands as the center of European affairs and plays a key leadership role as a member of the G-7, G-20, NATO and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

European Union policymakers should themselves consider how better to speak, and listen, to America and the rest of the world. The European Union is punching well below its weight in communication terms.

There is no question that the European Union has enormous public diplomacy potential – the combined ‘infopolitik’ might of the 28 member states and the Commission is formidable.

1. Austria: Sebastian Kurz (since 16/12/2013)
2. Belgium: Didier Reynders (since 06/12/2011)
3. Bulgaria: Daniel Mitov (since 06/08/2014)
4. Croatia: Davor Ivo Stier (since 19/10/2016)
5. Cyprus: Ioannis Kasoulidis (since 01/03/2016)
6. Czech Republic: Lubomir Zaoralek ( since 29/01/2014)
7. Denmark: Anders Samuelsen (since 28/11/2016)
8. Estonia: Sven Mikser (since 23/11/2016)
9. Finland: Timo Soini (since 29/05/2015)
10. France: Jean-Marc Ayrault (since 11/02/2016)
11. Germany: Frank-Walter Steinmeier (since 17/12/2013)

The political reality is that the EU will be unable to redefine its mission before 2018–2019. After the blow of Brexit, there is no going back to business as usual; yet the electoral timetable and divisions across Europe make major decisions impossible for at least two years. The sense of drift is heightened by traditional forms of leadership becoming dysfunctional. The Franco-German couple is not producing solutions.

1. The new administration is likely to freeze on-going negotiations between the EU and the U.S. over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the aim of which was to create a Transatlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA). Freezing on-going negotiations may not substantially dame or even have an impact on the Atlantic alliance given that negotiations were stuck in a gridlock due to significant opposition in the U.S. and particularly in Europe.

During the first White House Briefing, the following countries were mentioned:

• Russia
• Egypt
• Mexico
• Canada
• China
• Syria
• Iraq
• Taiwan
• India
• United Kingdom
• NAFTA 
• TTP

Europe is NOT in the loop. It's all about bilateral agreements, not multilateral agreements. Trade, market access, jobs for American workers.

A meeting with the EU is not a priority for President Trump who wants to focus meeting with individual countries, not the 28-nation bloc.

Authors: Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson

Amy Gutmann,Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Dennis Thompson, Professor of Political Philosophy at Harvard University.

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