Relations between the US and EU have gone from bad to worse

One of the most important duties of being an ambassador is serving as a counsellor of sorts. When relations between two countries are on the rocks – or a president or prime minister says or does something another nation regards as hostile – the ambassador is often called on to ensure that any diplomatic fallout can be contained and the relationship itself can be repaired. Apparently Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, didn’t get the memo.  

In an extraordinarily frank interview with Politico Europe this week, ambassador Sondland blasted the EU as an archaic, obstructionist, elitist European superstructure whose primary objective is to keep itself in business. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, was “out of touch with reality,” he said. “They are off in a cloud, regulating to the heart’s content, and regulating some things that don’t even need to be regulated because they haven’t even occurred yet, while stifling growth and innovation.”