Parlamentul European tocmai a respins acordul negociat de Administratia Obama si Consiliul European care permitea americanilor acces la datele bancare ale europenilor în cadrul cooperarii antiteroriste. Si a respins acest acord stânga liberalo-socialisto-comunisto-ecologista, adica voturile celor mai progresisti dintre pamânteni. Majoritatea reactionarilor de centru-dreapta din PPE a votat pentru acord, conservatorii europeni s-au abtinut.

Potrivit EUObs, „in past days, Washington deployed intense diplomatic efforts to try to change the minds of MEPs, especially after a key committee last week recommended the rejection of the deal.

After calling top EU officials on the phone, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton wrote a letter together with treasury secretary Timothy Geithner to the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, in which they stressed the importance of the pact.

If the legislature rejects it, this would „jeopardize a valuable and carefully constructed counter-terrorism programme of importance to countries affected by terrorism around the world,” the letter, seen by EUobserver, says. (EUObserver: Ripples of discontent as MEPs reject US bank data deal)

De cealalta parte, Obama a anuntat ca nu va participa la summitul UE-SUA ce urma sa se desfasoare în mai, la Madrid. Ar fi fost prima absenta a unui presedinte american de la acest summit din 1993 încoace. De fapt, administratia americana i-a lasat pe europeni sa-si rezolve problemele. Potrivit tratatului de la Lisabona summiturile cu tari terte ar trebui sa se tina la Bruxelles, sub presedintia belgianului Rompuy. Zapatero dorea si el o poza cu Obama la Madrid. Cum lucrurile nu s-au clarificat la timp, în nu se va mai tine niciun summit UE-SUA, nici la Madrid, nici la Bruxelles, nici sub Zapatero, nici sub Rompuy.

Sa citam din Charlemagne’s notebook: Obama, breaker of European hearts

An unnamed American official told the Wall Street Journal this week that the Obama team had been unimpressed by reports of squabbling between Mr Van Rompuy and the Spaniards about the format of any EU meeting with Mr Obama, declaring:

„We don’t even know if they’re going to have one [a summit],” said the official. „We’ve told them, ‘Figure it out and let us know.’ „

Other diplomats have recalled the „welcome to Lilliput” nightmare Mr Obama endured in Prague last year, when he found himself at an EU-US summit with strictly nothing of importance on the agenda, hosted by a Czech government that had just fallen. At that meeting, American officials later complained, 27 national leaders all waffled on at Mr Obama about exactly the same things, before fighting among themselves for photo opportunities with the new American president.