EU/COUNTERTERRORISM: VITORINO AND DE VRIES: TIME

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001997

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER PINR ECON ETRD EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: EU/COUNTERTERRORISM: VITORINO AND DE VRIES: TIME
TO STEP UP AND PERFORM


Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) For the past two years, we have struggled with the
EU bureaucracy on a range of counter-terrorism measures aimed
at tightening border security, enhancing control of container
traffic, improving travel document security, and
strengthening law enforcement cooperation. After the Madrid
bombings, the EU is starting to get more serious about these
concerns. Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio
Vitorino (cabinet minister equivalent) and newly-appointed
Counter-Terrorism coordinator Gijs de Vries (S/CT counterpart
with U/S equivalent rank) should be the point men in this
effort, but neither have been as forceful as we believe is
necessary if the EU is to move in the directions we would
like. Even as their discussions in Washington delve into the
particulars, we should also underscore the overall policy
message: we want to cooperate with the EU in preventing
terrorism, not just reacting to it, and it is time for this
duo to step up to the plate and perform. End Summary

EU Trying to Get Serious About Terrorism
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2. (SBU) After 9/11, the EU adopted a series of policy
measures aimed at tackling the threats posed by terrorism.
Those decisions were welcome, but implementation bogged down
in myriad internal regulations in the EU, where rules
developed to regulate commerce and protect personal data were
ill-equiped to address the terrorism menace. At the level of
member states, law enforcement and counter-terrorism
cooperation was minimal and grudging. Slowly, the EU has
been trying to change this mindset. The European Security
Strategy adopted late last year identifies terrorism as one
of the key threats to European society, and calls for
measures to address it. The Madrid bombings brought home to
Europeans that the threats are real, and the need to respond
urgent. In March, the European Council reaffirmed many of
its post-9/11 decisions, and called for implementation to be
accelerated. In our bilateral efforts with the EU, we have
scored successes -- last July we agreed on a revolutionary
new Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty -- but pinning down
implementing agreements on a state-by-state basis has
languished. More recently, we reached agreement on sharing
of Passenger Name Record data (over significant opposition
from the European Parliament),signed a Container Security
Initiative agreement, and the EU is moving ahead slowly in
adopting new rules on terrorist financing and designating
more organizations on their asset freeze list.


3. (SBU) Still, at every step in the road, the EU has
struggled with itself: the "mixed competency" area of Justice
and Home Affairs has not been able to take the lead from the
more developed "first pillar" bureaucracy that regulates
trade and commerce in the EU, and member states continue to
resist ceding national control over security and
counter-terrorism in favor of better coordinated mechanisms
on a Europe-wide basis. That is why the Council also decided
at its March session to appoint a "Terrorism Czar" to bring
greater coherence and effectiveness to this effort.

Vitorino and De Vrijs:
Teammates or Competitors, Leaders or Something Else?
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4. (SBU) The two point men in this effort are Vitorino and De
Vries. Unfortunately, neither has stepped forward boldly to
drive European policy in this field. Vitorino, a former
Portuguese Defense Minister turned Eurocrat, is nurturing a
dark horse candidacy to replace Romano Prodi as the next
President of the Commission. His is a long shot, as he does
not come from the ruling party in Portugal, and has no other
member state as a champion. Still, he is treading carefully
to ensure he can maintain broad support within EU circles.
If he does not emerge as a compromise candidate, he will
increasingly look like a lame duck, with his term in the
Commission likely to end this November. Vitorino allowed
Commission colleagues overseeing internal market rules to
take the lead in our difficult PNR discussions, and failed to
confront member states on MLAT implementation or
counter-terrorism coordination. Directly beneath him, his
Director General, Jonathan Faull, is an experienced
bureaucrat, veteran of the several Commission directorates as
well as a former spokesman for Prodi. He is the power behind
the throne on JHA matters, has been a key player in moving
forward our agenda, and will be accompanying Vitorino in all
his meetings. If, as we suspect, Vitorino's days are
numbered, we should not ignore Faull, who is likely to remain
in place no matter what changes take place in the Commission.



5. (SBU) De Vries is the new kid on the block. He is just
settling into his new position, but his first efforts have
been extremely modest. A retiring Dutchman with limited
experience in counter-terrorism, he lacks stature or any real
authority. He has no staff to speak of, and appears to spend
as much time fighting bureaucratic battles with the
Commission (especially with Faull) over where the lead on
counter-terrorism should be as he does in addressing the
actual issues at play. In fact, the current tandem visit by
Vitorino and de Vrijs is itself the result of an uneasy
patchwork of invitations and mutual recriminations between
Council and Commission staffers. De Vries failed to speak up
when he had opportunities on PNR, and appears to be treading
carefully with member states as well. If the EU is to gain
real traction here, these two elements will have to begin to
see each other as teammates in a broader struggle, and also
begin to take a bolder leadership stand within the EU
bureaucracy and with member states to ensure that needed
changes take place.

Our Message: Time to Step Up to the Plate
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6. (SBU) Our message to the EU in Washington has both public
and private elements. The public message should be that the
US welcomes the EU commitment to address terrorism, and we
want to work closely with you. In private, however, we
should make clear the we have been frustrated with our
efforts thus far, and believe the EU needs to begin putting
greater emphasis on the practical measures needed to address
the terrorist threat, and to give greater weight to law
enforcement cooperation, intelligence-sharing, and practical
measures to protect travel and commerce. They need to hear
we are interested in working with the EU, but also that we
cannot allow EU institutional complexity to slow down
measures we are convinced we need to take. The high-level
meetings accorded Vitorino and de Vries in Washington
(Secretary Ridge, Attorney General Ashcroft, Deputy Secretary
Armitage) are in themselves an indication of the hopes we are
placing in improving our cooperation. To succeed, however,
we will be looking to Vitorino and de Vries to take a
stronger leadership position to prove the EU's new
seriousness of purpose. If they leave Washington with a
renewed commitment to lead, it will have been a very
successful visit.

FOSTER