US Remains a Partner

104

July 19, 2013

Published in Rheinische Post
(Germany) on 9 Jul 2013
by Matthias Beermann (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Holly Young. Edited by Keith Armstrong.

Is there something there? American intelligence services have been bugging EU offices, tapping data lines and reading many emails in Germany, perhaps even the chancellor’s emails. What a great stir. Despite this, the Europeans are meeting with the Americans to negotiate a large free trade agreement. Incomprehensible? No, inevitable. The outrage among Europe’s politicians over Uncle Sam’s spying may be big, but, in the end, revelations made by NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden will not shift the balance of power in global politics. The U.S. remains our most important strategic partner, and the planned transatlantic agreement is a project of great importance.

The review of the spying scandal must be kept separate from talks about the creation of a large economic zone, from which the Europeans would benefit just as much as the Americans. Whether the project will work or not, who knows? But the attempt should not be nipped in the bud.

USA bleiben Partner
VON MATTHIAS BEERMANN - zuletzt aktualisiert: 09.07.2013

War da nicht was? Amerikanische Geheimdienste verwanzen EU-Büros, zapfen Datenleitungen an und lesen auch in Deutschland massenhaft E-Mails mit, womöglich sogar die der Bundeskanzlerin. Große Aufregung. Und trotzdem setzen sich die Europäer jetzt mit den Amerikanern zusammen, um über ein großes Freihandelsabkommen zu verhandeln. Unverständlich? Nein: unausweichlich. Die Empörung unter Europas Politikern über Uncle Sams Spähpraktiken mag noch so groß sein, am Ende werden die Enthüllungen des von der Fahne gegangen NSA-Mitarbeiters Edward Snowden die Kraftlinien der globalen Politik nicht verschieben. Die USA bleiben unser wichtigster strategischer Partner, und das geplante transatlantische Abkommen ist ein Projekt von größter Bedeutung.

Die Aufarbeitung der Spionage-Affäre muss getrennt werden von den Gesprächen über die Schaffung einer großen Wirtschaftszone, von der die Europäer ebenso profitieren würden wie die Amerikaner. Ob das Projekt gelingt – wer weiß? Aber der Versuch darf nicht schon im Keim erstickt werden.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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