The ‘crisis’ in transatlantic relations and the (re-)relaunching of the European Union

• Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
• the Robert Schuman Centre Seminar Series

Join Professor Erik Jones as he launches the 2025–2026 RSC Seminar Series with a session on the recurring crises in EU–USA. relations, and how EU's current political determination to be less dependent can have a distinct shift.

The current crisis in transatlantic relations was widely anticipated. The relationship between the European Union and the United States has changed significantly since the end of the Cold War, and in ways that have frequently sparked tensions on both sides of the Atlantic. Moreover, that evolution comes on the back of almost eight decades of periodic ‘crisis’. Relations were never easy at the best of times; the post-Cold War transformation just made them more volatile and harder to manage. Nevertheless, this time is different. Many Europeans believe that trust has been broken in ways that are fundamentally transformative.

Europe will need to have some kind of relationship with the United States, but it cannot accept such a high degree of dependence. And the European Union is prepared. The European Union’s latest push for ‘competitiveness’, ‘resilience’, and ‘open strategic autonomy’ is not a knee-jerk reaction; it is a well-laid plan backed by considerable political determination. That is also not unexpected. We saw something similar in the 1980s, and the results were transformative.

The Schuman Centre's Seminar Series consists of weekly sessions where all members of the Centre can present ongoing work, including work-in-progress and discussions on topical issues. The series alternates between presentations of research projects by our post-doctoral fellows and sessions featuring presentations and debates with both internal and external speakers on a wide range of topics.