The EU-U.S. Relationship: An Interview with Congressman Will Hurd
EU@SXSW hosted many leaders involved in both tech industries and foreign affairs, with entrepreneurs and diplomats alike coming together to discuss particulars in their respective fields, and the various ways they intersect. Congressman William Hurd (R-TX), participated in a panel titled “Europa and Uncle Sam: Divorcing or Reconciling?” alongside David O’Sullivan (EU Ambassador to the U.S.), Heather Conley (CSIS Senior VP of Europe, Eurasia, & the Arctic), and Shawn Donnan (World Trade Editor, Financial Times).
Before the panel, we sat down with Congressman Hurd to discuss the current state of the transatlantic relationship, Russian disinformation, and how both sides of the Atlantic must work together to keep our shared values prevalent across the world.
In your view, what is the current state of the EU-U.S. relationship?
I think the current state is strong — but it’s evolving. We have to remember that this transatlantic partnership has been responsible for one of the safest periods in the history of our worlds. It has (assured) a free and secure Europe for the last 70 years, which has been important for prosperity for everyone. Sometimes, we seem to forget that. Especially current generations, because they don’t remember what it was like before the EU, before these strong transatlantic partnerships. So we have to continue to make the case for the importance of it, we have to continue to educate people on why this relationship is so important…because if we don’t do it, guess what? Our adversaries — and there are many — want to see a degradation in our transatlantic relationship, and we can’t let them win!
On that note: if the EU-U.S. relationship were to deteriorate, would there be celebrations elsewhere in the world?
Absolutely. Vladimir Putin would like nothing more than for that to happen. I spent almost a decade as an undercover officer in the CIA, I have chased Russian intelligence officers all over the world, dealt with Iranian nuclear weapon proliferators…and we have a number of adversaries that are trying to prevent this strong relationship from continuing. We have to remember why someone like Vladimir Putin wants that. Vladimir Putin is interested in re-establishing the territorial integrity of the USSR; he wants to have a veto over diplomatic, economic, and political decisions in parts of Eastern Europe. And we can’t let that happen. We have seen instances in what’s going on in Ukraine, in the country of Georgia, and in Moldova as examples of what the Russians are doing currently to have a destabilizing effect on the continents. And the only way we can stand up to that is (to ensure) that the EU is strong, and that the transatlantic partnership between the EU and America is as strong as it’s ever been.
We of course share a number values on both sides of the Atlantic: democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, etcetera. However, at times, democracies can be messy. Should we worry about our own people still believing in our shared ideals — and will others point at us and say “look at how Europe and the U.S. are struggling with their notions of freedom/democracy? We have better solutions than that.”
I think that tension has always existed in our various societies, and at the end of the day those principles that have made the U.S. great, has made the EU great, has made these great Western democracies what they are today — those principles have always won out. None of the things that I’ve seen — and not to get too political here — but I represent a District that is 50% Democrat, 50% Republican, and one of the things that I have found as I crisscross my District is that way more unites us than divides us. And oftentimes, in a relationship, or when we’re looking at bilateral or multi-lateral agreements or partnerships, we oftentimes focus on the fringe issues, where there may be a disagreement. But in reality, we agree on 80%! Sometimes, we forget that — and that’s why a conversation like this is important…that’s why I love the fact that the EU has a great house here at SXSW to promote these important issues.
We can’t stop talking about it. Right now in the US, we’re dealing with a backup in North American free trade agreement, and it’s because many people have forgotten why free trade is important. To those that recognize the importance of free trade, we’ve stopped talking about why we should have it. So we can’t take for granted these important institutions — and we have to continue to always talk about it. And there are some areas in the transatlantic partnership where there are some disagreements: around privacy, around digital trade and digital services…but those types of things can’t be the example of where this relationship is.
That’s what I try to ask: why is this important? It’s because our economies have been growing for the last 70 years. This has led to the creation of good paying jobs — it has led to relative peace and prosperity in a region that hadn’t seen that for a long time. Again, we have some differences — that’s fine! Partners, marriages always have differences…but we can’t stop talking about all that unites us.
Final question: if you had to name one issue where it’s critical that the EU and U.S. cooperate, what would you say?
The first thing that comes to my mind is countering Russian disinformation. This is a tool that the Russians have perfected in Eastern Europe for the last couple of decades. I believe the closer you are to Russia, the less likely you are to believe in nonsense — but the converse of that is true as well: the farther away you are, the more susceptible you are to their disinformation. And I think there are a number of great initiatives that are happening within the EU, that are happening with Member States, on how you counter this type of disinformation, and how you educate a population to deal with information. We all know — and this is true in Texas, I’m pretty sure it’s probably true in Europe — don’t get into a car with a stranger. (Unless it’s an Uber or Lyft driver). So why do we share something on social media from someone we know absolutely nothing about? That’s a very basic issue, but we have to get our citizenry to begin thinking that way. And so when it comes to countering disinformation in the digital age, we have to all work together. I think the U.S. can learn a lot from our partners on the other side of the Atlantic.
