The relationship between the U.S. and the European Union is cooling. By declining to come to Spain for a trans-Atlantic summit, President Barack Obama made it clear that Brussels, the headquarters for the European Union,  is far down on his priority list. The reasons for that can be found in Europe.

The U.S. president is traveling a lot these days - and a clear pattern has emerged. The deeper into the United States it takes him, the better - be it Nashua, New Hampshire or Tampa, Florida. The issue is always the same: How can Barack Obama create more jobs?

Little time remains to travel abroad - particularly not to Europe. The White House recently canceled Obama's visit to the E.U.-U.S. summit in Madrid, scheduled for May. The president's schedule, White House European policy coordinator Phil Gordon said, was "full."

The message, though, couldn't have been any clearer. The president has plenty of time in his schedule to visit Australia and Indonesia in March. The Wall Street Journal recently sneered that the Europeans, so enamored of Obama, must be missing the Bush years. Bush, at least, diligently attended each E.U.-U.S. summit. As the Washington Post wrote, though: "Unlike most of his predecessors, Obama has not forged close ties with any European leader."