· We have been trying to build a partnership to ensure that the next 50 years of cooperation will be as great as the last. That is the vision laid out in June, 1995, for the New Transatlantic Agenda, to renew and adapt the transatlantic partnership. In our biannual summits, in my regular meetings with my counterparts from the Commission and the Presidency states, and in the many discussions among working-level officials from the whole range of U.S. government agencies and European Union organizations, we have pursued this goal.

· This new approach to partnership has been very successful. We are working together to promote peace, growth and democracy in Southeast Europe, and together we established the Stability Pact. Our rapidly growing diplomatic cooperation has ranged from promotion of human rights in places such as East Timor, Belarus and Chechnya to support for the Korean Energy Development Office, the Middle East peace process, and peacekeeping in Africa. We agreed with the EU to regulate illegal narcotics precursor chemicals, carry out information campaigns in Central and Eastern Europe to fight trafficking in women, and to establish a common strategy to fight AIDS in Africa.

· We established a Transatlantic Economic Partnership and set up Mutual Acceptance Agreements in areas such as pharmaceuticals and veterinary standards. We very recently reached a Safe Harbor agreement on data privacy, and have established a government-level dialogue to deal with the challenging new afea of biotechnology. We pursue joint research on renewable energy, materials technologies, and sustainable chemistry under a U.S.-EU Science and Technology Agreement.

· In the New Transatlantic Agenda, we also recognized the importance of people-to-people links. The consumer and environment dialogues we created, along with the Transatlantic Business Dialogue, provide valuable advice to policy-makers, and deepen the relationship by connecting Americans and Europeans who share common interests. Our joint agreement on higher education also serves this purpose, as does, of course, the TIES website.



TIES: How is the EU's emerging security and defense dimension going to change the nature of the transatlantic relationship?

M. Albright: · The development of a European Security and Defense Policy is a natural, even inevitable, result of Europe's deepening integration, and we've always been in favor of it. We support a strong and capable Europe, because we want a strong partner that can act with us in NATO, or independently when the Alliance as a whole is not engaged.

· To ensure that the EU's security and defense policy strengthens transatlantic security, however, we believe that certain factors must be taken into account as these plans develop.

· We believe that crises require swift, coordinated action. If NATO members and partners wish to join an effort, it would be fruitless, even dangerous, to delay action while a debate took place over whether the EU or NATO will lead. NATO should lead.

· A European Security and Defense Policy will mean little without improved capabilities in European forces. As much as possible, these improvements should be pursued through established NATO defense planning and Partnership for Peace mechanisms. Adequate funding of defense budgets is essential if the needs identified at the NATO Washington Summit are to be met.

· Non-EU European members of the Alliance should be involved. This is especially urgent both to encourage European integration, rather than working against it, and for a straight-forward security reason. These countries are allies and neighbors, and their interests could be affected by EU actions.

· Maximum transparency and practical working arrangements between NATO and the EU are essential. The Feira Summit made progress in this regard by establishing ad hoc NATO-EU working groups, on which we need to build in the coming months.



TIES: Do you think that transatlantic trade disputes reflect or cause strains between the U.S. and the EU?

M. Albright: · The U.S.-EU trade and investment relationship is the largest in the world. The total annual bilateral trade and investment relationship is valued at $1.4 trillion. An estimated 6.5 million U.S. jobs are supported by European investment in the U.S., and another 1.4 million jobs depend on U.S. exports to Europe. One in 12 U.S. factory workers is employed in one of the 4,000 European-owned businesses in the U.S. The numbers are similar on the European side.

· Yes, there are differences - and those differences tend to get all the headlines - but we work very hard to resolve trade irritants without a negative effect on the overall excellent state of U.S.-EU cooperation. In dollar terms, the problems do not affect a major part of our trade.

· We are also opening new areas of cooperation. We agree on the need to ensure data privacy in the age of electronic commerce, and we have reached an important agreement that will ensure consumer safety, enhance consumer confidence, and keep data and profits flowing across the Atlantic. We believe the U.S. and EU together can do much to improve consumer protection, ensure intellectual property rights, and enhance Internet access and security.



TIES: What does the term "civil society" mean to you? Is civil society involved in the transatlantic relationship?

M. Albright: · When I talk about civil society, I think of all the non-governmental groups that influence governments, or more broadly, influence the course of current events. This can include businesses as well as organizations dedicated to human rights, or education, or drug-abuse prevention, or really almost anything. A key part of the definition, however, is the group, the organization. Individuals can and do effect change, but when people come together, in meeting rooms and sometimes on the streets, they are more likely to get the attention of the people in power.

· Clearly these groups do get our attention, more and more often and in more formal ways. For example, the United Nations hosted a Millennium Forum of NGOs in May, and in June the OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, organized Forum 2000 in Paris. That event brought together all kinds of actors interested in the new economy. And here in Washington, I hosted the National Foreign Policy Conference for Leaders of Non-Governmental Organizations as a way for the people in the Department of State to talk with people outside of government about getting things done internationally.

· We not only listen to these organizations, we also work with them. NGOs are our partners in building democracy, creating jobs, advancing the status of women, fighting disease, nourishing children, and a host of other fields.

· TIES is of course an example of the role of civil society in the transatlantic relationship. TIES facilitates transatlantic links by helping groups in the U.S. and Europe find partners on the other side of the ocean.

· The Transatlantic Dialogues are probably the most visible, formal manifestations of the role that civil society plays in the U.S.-EU relationship. There are four dialogues now, covering business, the environment, labor, and consumer interests, as well as the Transatlantic Legislators Dialogue, a forum for discussion between the U.S. Congress and the European Parliament.
Participants in these groups meet with each other, of course, and with government leaders at all levels, from working-level officials in the Department of State and other agencies, all the way up to the President of the U.S. -- and the President of the European Commission, too -- at the biannual summits. We recognize and encourage the contributions of these civil society groups to the transatlantic relationship.



TIES: What do you think about the role of civil society at the Seattle WTO Ministerial, the Washington IMF/World Bank meetings, and similar events?

M. Albright: · We believe firmly in the right of peaceful protest, and the message behind protests should be taken into account by policy makers. Destructive and violent protests such as we saw in Seattle, however, hurt everyone's cause. We welcome the involvement of non-governmental groups in international affairs, but there are limits to the methods by which disagreements should be expressed. The vast majority of civil society groups contribute to the policy-making process in peaceful and constructive ways.



TIES: What do you think about the role of the Internet in transatlantic relations?

M. Albright: · The Internet certainly speeds communication across the ocean and through borders. If we want to read French newspapers, we can do it on-line. Anyone in Europe wondering about U.S. foreign policy can find information on the State Department website, or on one of the special sites we maintain especially for foreign audiences. E-mail and the Internet have also improved communications within our government, between governments, and from the government to the people and from the people to us.

· Going back to what we were saying about civil society, I think everyone acknowledges the role of the Internet in bringing together people in different places who have similar ideas. The global campaign concerning land-mines, for example, was started and orchestrated on the Internet. Effective use of the Internet is a key reason for the enhanced influence of civil society. Those protesters we were talking about used the Internet to organize the demonstrations in Seattle and Washington. Other groups use the Internet to convey and marshal support for their views.

· Speaking directly about transatlantic relations, I would say first that this is yet another way for people to get together across the ocean. I already mentioned TIES, but, of course, anyone with access to the Internet has an almost limitless ability to find information about a particular topic. You could spend years going through the resources of the Library of Congress' website.
That site, by the way, is called Thomas, in honor of President -- and Secretary of State -- Thomas Jefferson. His personal library formed the basis of the Library of Congress' collection. At any rate, that website is huge. Similarly, the Europa website maintained by the European Commission is an incredible store of information for Europeans and anyone interested in Europe.

· In a policy sense, I think that the Internet has presented us with some new issues to think about. I've mentioned the "Safe Harbor" data privacy accord and some of the other aspects of Internet policy -- consumer protection, intellectual property rights -- that we are working on together.

· Don't think, however, that we spend all our time dealing with just the economic impact of the Internet. We're also discussing digital opportunity -- how to make sure that more people, especially in remote or economically disadvantaged areas, gain access to the Internet. This is a tool that can help improve people's lives, and it is important to us and to European governments to make sure that no one is neglected as the Internet grows and becomes more important in our societies.
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Biography of Secretary Albright: www.state.gov/www/about_state/biography/albright.html

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-- June 2000 --
An interview conducted by

Visiting Scholar in Atlanta, USA,
Member of TIES 'Political Interviews' Rubric