Workers carry a sign into the venue of Saturday’s summit between President Obama and European Union leaders, which will follow a two-day NATO summit at the same location in Lisbon, Portugal. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

(CNSNews.com) – The bilateral relationship between the United States and European Union is “one of the most important, and understated” in the world, but needs an “upgrade,” an expert in transatlantic ties says ahead of a U.S.-E.U. summit this weekend.

In a two-hour slot tagged on to the end of the NATO leaders’ summit in Lisbon, President Obama will meet with European leaders including E.U. Council president Herman Van Rompuy, high representative for foreign affairs Catherine Ashton, and the president of the 27-member union’s executive Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso.

Annette Heuser, executive director of the Bertelsmann Foundation Washington DC, expressed concern that the packed agenda for Saturday’s meeting in the Portuguese capital was not focused enough on issues that are key priorities for leaders on both sides, primarily jobs.

“Unfortunately both sides haven’t learned from the mistakes of the past. The agenda for the Lisbon meeting has everything and nothing on it – from Afghanistan to Iran to the global economic recovery to climate change to terrorism to relations with Russia,” she said.

“But the top political leaders – first and foremost the U.S. president – need concrete deliverables for their home constituencies.

“For Barack Obama, most of his European counterparts and E.U. officials, priority number one is jobs. Both sides would have done themselves a big favor placing the summit under a ‘jobs-creation agenda’ instead of diversifying their speaking points.”

The Bertelsmann Foundation is a private, nonpartisan body whose goal is to promote and strengthen transatlantic cooperation.

Heuser said while she did not expect any formal agreements to come out of the summit, E.U. leaders would hope for an upgrading of the relationship next year, particularly since the entry into force of the E.U.’s Lisbon Treaty almost a year ago.

The treaty created the positions now held by Van Rompuy and Ashton. According to the E.U. it modernizes the union’s operations, enhancing democracy within and giving the union a single voice in external relations.

A U.S.-E.U. summit was planned in Madrid last May, but Obama chose not to attend, sparking concern in Europe that its importance was waning for an administration focused on improving relations with Russia and managing ties with China. With Obama not planning to go, the event was called off.

For Heuser, it is now time for a boost.

“The U.S.-E.U. relationship is one of the most important, and understated, bilateral relationships in the world,” she said. “You have the Russian ‘reset,’ now we need the E.U. upgrade.”

After the earlier anxiety over Obama’s Madrid decision, the fact that only two hours have been set aside for the talks in Lisbon has drawn some comment, but Heuser said she did not think the length of time dedicated to the meeting was an issue.

“More than anything, summits are about symbolism. For both sides, the optics are extremely important,” she said. “The Obama administration had a challenge on its hands. It must assure Europe that the transatlantic relationship is not being neglected. This summit is an important step in that direction.”

However, she warned that if this was not built upon in the year ahead, then “the length of the summit will feed into the perception that the Obama administration is not as interested in Europe as its predecessors.”