Survey suggests rift with Europe widens

BRUSSELS -- The rift in US-European relations that opened over the war in Iraq has deepened in the last year, further evidence that the trans-Atlantic relationship is undergoing a fundamental change, according to a survey of Americans and Europeans to be published today.

"Transatlantic Trends 2004," a survey of 11,000 Americans and Europeans conducted by the Washington-based German Marshall Fund and the Italy-based Compagnia di San Paolo, showed that 76 percent of Europeans express disapproval with current US foreign policy.

That disapproval rating is up 12 percentage points over last year and has risen 20 percentage points over the last two years.

"If this trend continues, we may be looking at a redefinition of the fundamentals of the trans-Atlantic relationship from a first-choice partnership to an optional alliance when mutually convenient," Craig Kennedy, president of the German Marshall Fund, said in a statement.

"However, a strong trans-Atlantic foundation, based on common values and social and economic linkages, continues to drive the relationship," he added.

Among the Americans surveyed, 51 percent said they approved of the way President Bush is handling international relations, and 47 percent said they disapprove.

The survey asked people in the United States and in 10 European countries about issues including the role of America as a superpower, the use of military force, and about unilateral and multilateral strategies in employing it. Polling was conducted in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Britain, and, for the first time, in Slovakia, Spain, and Turkey.

The two organizations that sponsored the survey are prominent nonprofit policy centers focusing on US-European relations.

The survey illustrated that Americans and Europeans agree on the nature of the threats their societies face, particularly terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

But they disagree sharply on the most effective way to respond to these security threats, and on whether the response requires an international mandate.

When asked whether military strength was the best way to ensure peace, 54 percent of Americans agreed, while 28 percent of Europeans agreed.

When asked whether a war can be just, 82 percent of Americans said yes, while 41 percent of Europeans answered positively.

Support for the United Nations was high on both sides of the Atlantic, but Americans expressed a far greater willingness to bypass the United Nations when its vital interests were at stake.

Another key finding of the survey reflected a parting of ways in the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Sixty percent of Americans believe the partnership between the United States and the European Union should become closer.

But 58 percent of Europeans believe the Europeen Union should exert its independence from the United States on matters of security.

Daniel C. Twining, director of foreign policy at the German Marshall Fund, said in a phone interview, "That Europe and America are still divided may come as no surprise, but what is perhaps more interesting in the survey is the way the relationship is changing, that Americans want a closer partnership with a stronger Europe, and Europeans want more independence from the US."