The United States Mission to the European Union (USEU) is the diplomatic mission of the United States to the European Union; it is based in Brussels, Belgium. The US has maintained diplomatic relations with the EU and its predecessors since 1953. The first predecessor of the current mission was the US diplomatic mission to the European Coal and Steel Community in Luxembourg, which opened in 1956. In 1961, the US Mission to the European Communities was established in Brussels, which later became the United States Mission to the European Union, upon the latter's establishment in 1993.[1]
In 1993, the European Union was established. Relations between the US and EU were defined in the New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA), agreed to in 1995. The NTA set forth four broad areas of cooperation between the US and EU: "promoting peace and stability, democracy and development around the world; responding to global challenges; contributing to the expansion of world trade and closer economic relations; and building bridges Across the Atlantic."[3] The NTA was further extended to cover bilateral and multilateral trade in 1998, through the Transatlantic Economic Partnership (TEP).[3] The Lisbon Treaty, ratified in 2009, established the European External Action Service as the EU's foreign policy institution.[citation needed] Since 2013, the US and EU have been engaged in discussions to create a free trade agreement, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.[5]
The diplomatic mission is headed by the United States Ambassador to the European Union. The current United States Ambassador to the European Union is Mark Henry Gitenstein (born March 7, 1947), an American lawyer and diplomat who is serving as the United States ambassador to the European Union since 2022. He was nominated by President Joe Biden on July 27, 2021, and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 18, 2021. He formerly served as the United States ambassador to Romania from 2009 to 2012; he was nominated by President Barack Obama on June 11, 2009 and confirmed by the Senate on July 8, 2009.
The previous Ambassador, Gordon Sondland, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 29, 2018 and arrived in Brussels on July 8, 2018. He presented his credentials at the European Commission and to President of the European Council Donald Tusk on July 9, 2018. He was removed by the President on February 7, 2020.[7]
Public diplomacy
The Mission's Public Affairs Office (USEU PA) is responsible for engaging Europeans in matters of US policies, society, and US-EU cooperation in various fields.[8] To accomplish this task, the office supports exchange programs for professionals and students; organizes conferences with think tanks and NGOs to facilitate dialogue on issues of mutual interest to the EU and US; engage Europeans on US policy issues through social media outreach; and organizes interviews, speeches, and press conferences with Mission staff and visiting US officials and experts.[8]
^John Peterson Europe and America: The Prospects for Partnership - 2002 Page 7 1134772971 "A 'New Transatlanticism' emerged soon after the end of the Cold War as political links between the US and EU were deepened and institutionalized. "
‡ Missions which are located in countries or cities that may be considered a part of more than one continent
1 Consulates-General which function as an embassy (ie. consul reports to State Department, not the respective country's ambassador)
2 The American Institute in Taiwan is ostensibly a public, non-profit organization to promote US-Taiwanese relations, but through State Department staffing & assistance, functions as an informal US diplomatic mission.
