Why should we care about the EU?

Madeleine Albright once said "to understand Europe you have to be a genius--or French." My name is Jerry Wohlgemuth and this has become one of my favorite quotes over the past year as I pursued my Master of Arts in Political Science in Florence, Italy at James Madison University. Having focused on European Union policy and lived within the continent, I like to think I have a unique understanding of arguably the most complex system of governance on the planet. However, even having lived and studied there, my understanding is far from complete. This has led me to believe that Americans in general have a very thin understanding of our trans-Atlantic neighbors that many of us identify so strongly with, which has led to this blog. The purpose of this blog is to explore current events within the EU from an American perspective. My contribution will build on research I began while in Europe: examining media exposure of the EU in the U.S. with the hope of exploring overall public opinion in the U.S. towards the EU, and issues relating to economic policy. I also hope to make this an open forum for debate for other graduates of James Madison's European Union policy studies program and other Americans interested in European politics, who can both comment and contribute with their current/past research.

The first question that must be asked when examining the EU is why is it important for Americans to be informed about the EU? Some quick economic facts:

1. Combined, the 27 member states of the European Union have a population of over 500 million, a huge market for American business.

2. In 2009 the EU imported €286 billion in goods and services from the U.S. and we imported €323 billion from them.

3. The EU spent €121 billion in foreign direct investment in the U.S., while the U.S. invested €50 billion.

4. DG Competition, the EU's form of an anti-trust regulatory body can regulate many American businesses if they have a "community dimension." (Ask GE, Microsoft, or Boeing if the EU doesn't play an important role in market regulation. All were fined or subject to change conditions of their mergers)

Determining a community dimension -- Company does more than €5 billion in worldwide turnover, more than €250 million worth of sales within the European Union, or does more than 2/3 of its sales within one member state of the Union

5. The EU negotiates at the WTO as one. This means that if the U.S. runs into a trade dispute with Malta (population less than 500,000) it will have to negotiate with the EU rather than just the Maltese government.

These are only a few economic justifications why the U.S. public should keep up to date on EU current events. While this seems like enough reason for the EU to receive substantial media coverage, the EU is far from a consistent headliner.

Next to come, my findings on media exposure for May 2010...