A dwarf or a giant? Framing the European People’s Party international relations perspective and the transatlantic backdrop

Abstract

United States foreign policy is a key variable in the transatlantic relationship with the EU. The global role that America decides to undertake and the way it decides to exert its power offer a spectrum against which consensus or discord is recorded on the other side of the Atlantic. One of the key sponsors of American cooperation is the European People’s Party, the biggest political family in Europe. In this paper I assess the normative implications of this relationship in view of the increasing capabilities of the EU as a global actor. I suggest that the EPP’s special relationship with the US constitutes a ‘value-dependency’ with significant bearing on its status as political actor in the EU. Secondly, I contend that the normative aspect of this relationship is set to be conditioned and possibly compromised by the administration in office. Thirdly the proximity to the US determines the capabilities of the EPP as an international actor. I contend that these considerations raise a debate which the EPP will have to engage with in its approach towards EU and international politics.