Survey on transatlantic relations from the perspective of top European and American managers

• The results of a comprehensive survey among senior European and American managers about collaboration between the US and Europe: The most important common goals are to expand trade relations and ensure closer cooperation in combating organized crime and international terrorism
• Europeans would also like more intensive collaboration in foreign policy issues, science and environmental matters, while most Americans do not consider this important
• Overall, top European managers consider the expansion of transatlantic relations to be much more important than their American counterparts do

Expanding transatlantic relations will take a lot of persuasion in the business and political worlds: at the very least, senior European and American managers have very different views on the importance of transatlantic cooperation. While most European managers (some 95%) would like closer relations, around 40% of American CEOs see collaboration with Europe as unimportant. These were the findings of a survey among 170 senior decision-makers in the US and Europe, carried out by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and TNS opinion. Top managers on opposite sides of the Atlantic also differ in their goals: Europeans, for example, favor greater collaboration in foreign policy issues, science and environmental protection, while the Americans support preferred business visa programs and joint initiatives in the fight against counterfeiting and data theft in particular. There is common ground on expanding trade and economic relations (98% of European managers and 70% of US CEOs) and on taking joint action against organized crime and international terrorism (98% each).

"European managers consider transatlantic relations much more important than their counterparts across the Atlantic," explains Dr. Burkhard Schwenker, CEO of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. "Business leaders and politicians obviously need to do more to boost the US's interest in Europe and overcome the Americans' traditional focus on their domestic market."

US CEOs view transatlantic relations with skepticism

For the survey, 120 European CEOs from Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Poland and Spain plus 50 US managers from companies of various sizes from different industries were interviewed. According to the results, Americans and Europeans see transatlantic relations differently: Nearly 95% of the European managers consider collaboration important. By contrast, 40% of the Americans describe closer relations as unimportant; just 12% say that transatlantic collaboration up to now has led to positive results. Around twice as many European decision-makers (25%), however, describe cooperation as satisfactory.

Despite these differences, there are subjects on which managers from both continents agree. For example, top managers on both sides of the Atlantic (50% in Europe and 54% in the US) share concerns about emerging economic powers such as China and India. "We also need to build up a joint competitive position in our dealings with the fast growing emerging economies," says strategy chief Schwenker.

In order to safeguard their presence in the market, 70% of managers from the US and 98% of the Europeans surveyed consider the expansion of economics and trade essential for future cooperation. To achieve this, trade barriers in particular should be broken down (68% of Europeans and 54% of Americans support this). However, US CEOs (54%) prefer bilateral agreements to multilateral treaties. And 98% of each group of CEOs considers it essential to fight organized crime and terrorism.

Europeans want more collaboration on environmental matters

Europeans and Americans disagree on the harmonization of industry and banking standards. Leading business people from Europe expect falling costs (88%) due to their positive experience with the integration of Europe. Most of their US counterparts (58%), by contrast, fear the opposite. The issue of environmental protection, very important to European managers, triggers little interest among their US counterparts. 98% of European managers would like more collaboration on this issue, but just 36% of the Americans share this desire. America's business leaders also express little interest in increased collaboration in science, technology or foreign policy.

Interestingly, American and European CEOs see business practices on the opposite side of the Atlantic as more progressive than their own in some regards. Europeans are given credit as role models in the area of corporate social responsibility, while Americans are considered leaders when it comes to genetic engineering, data protection and open markets. In the areas of research funding, industrial policy, corporate governance and damage compensation schemes, both Europeans and Americans look to the other region for ideas.