MARSEILLE, France - European Union has written a letter to the new U.S. president, calling for an era of closer co-operation in tackling issues of global importance.
The six-page draft letter addressed to "Dear Mr. President" will remain sealed from public view until the recipient is known after Tuesday's election.
The overriding theme of the document is multilateralism.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner described the letter to reporters, saying that both candidates "have shown an interest in Europe."
"They want to see the two shores of the Atlantic working together," he said.
Kouchner and other EU officials made clear that Europe wants to be brought in as an equal partner and to have its expertise in some regions of the world recognized.
"It is important to work where we have shown leadership and offer this leadership to the United States," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said, citing relations with Georgia and eastern Europe.
Kouchner said the EU -- a member of the quartet of Middle East peacemakers alongside the United States, United Nations and Russia -- doesn't "want to play a secondary role anymore."
The document identifies other areas for co-operation between Europe and the United States, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and the emerging economies of China, India and Brazil, Kouchner said.
"There is life after the American elections," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said. "What is important is to see how we can work together."
