A New Transatlantic Relationship?

I have read a report from the ECFR called Towards a Post-American Europe: A power audit of US-EU relations by Jeremy Shapiro and Nick Witney. I'm getting the feeling that it might be impossible to work without a solely European perspective as can be seen from the following citation:

"Americans, meanwhile, find European pretensions to play Athens to their Rome both patronizing and frustrating. After all, they don't want lectures from Europeans; they want practical help. In fact, Americans often see these attitudes and behaviors as evidence that Europe is a played out continent in irreversible decline. A more hopeful view is that Europe is still in the early stages of a bold attempt to reinvent itself as a new, young, and unique collective power."

The report does point strongly for an assertion of the EU versus the US which I recently concluded. It does feature information that makes it clear that the US from an European perspective is a hard negotiator. In principle the EU have to get back in the business in science and technology, efforts that are underway as seen in earlier reports. The authors claim that the EU have to act independently on Afghanistan, Russia and the Middle East.