US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Brussels this week and has hit the EU with a charm offensive. Both the EU and the US had expressed hopes of rebuilding trans-Atlantic relationship that had become strained under the previous administration.

Secretary Clinton can feel the visit a success. She started Friday with a town hall style question and answer with young Europeans at the European Parliament. This was streamed live across the EU on Europe by Satellite.

Many heard her tell the 1000 strong audience:

“Europe today is viewed by many as a miracle… The unity of this grand experiment is indeed impressive to those of us who have followed it from the other side of the Atlantic.

She stressed that Barack Obama wants to work with Europe, rather than unilaterally saying:

“I know that Europe and the US are united in a shared vision of the kind of future that we hope to realize… Europe is our essential partner in what we are going to do together.

The President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering responded:

“What you said mostly could have been said by a European, and this shows that what unites us is much more than what divides us.

Secretary Clinton followed this up with a 90-minute meeting with Javier Solana, the EU’s top diplomat, the European Commissions External Relations Commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. The Czech Republic currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

They discussed relations with Russia, energy security, Iran, Afghanistan, the Middle East peace process, climate change, the situation in the Balkans and the financial crisis.

On all these issues the EU and the US appear to be converging. Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the EU and the US were now, “going totally in the same direction.”

Convergence seems particularly strong on the need to address carbon emissions. After the meeting Secretary Clinton told a press conference:

“We are committed to a cap-and-trade system, but also to a number of other things. We are making major investments now in our stimulus package in alternative energy, in basic science research, in new forms of fuelling transportation, as well as upgrading our grid. The European Union is taking a similarly broad approach.

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