KOFI ANNAN AND THE EU: MULTILATERALISM, MONEY AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000728 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/ERA, IO/UNP E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2014 TAGS: PREL EAID UNGA UN EUN USEU BRUSSELS SUBJECT: KOFI ANNAN AND THE EU: MULTILATERALISM, MONEY AND MIGRATION REF: A. A) USEU TODAY 1/30/04 ¶B. B) STATE 15070 ¶C. C) BRUSSELS 14 ¶D. D) USMISSION USUN 79 ¶E. E) 03 BRUSSELS 5126 ¶F. F) 03 BRUSSELS 4424 Classified By: USEU POLOFF TODD HUIZINGA, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: UNSYG Kofi Annan used his January 28-30 visit to Brussels to lecture the EU in public on the need to have more open migration policies, while holding private talks on a range of world hotspots. The EU showcased its commitment to a policy of "effective multilateralism" centered around the UN. END SUMMARY. -------------- ANNAN TO EU: WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW? -------------- ¶2. (C) Our interlocutor in the UN Affairs Office of the Commission's External Relations Directorate-General told us that Annan's meeting with the European Commissioners was largely a tour d'horizon of Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Middle East peace process, and Cyprus. Annan asked for a greater EU contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). He also said the EU should play a leading role in the Global Commission on Migration. Annan welcomed the EU commitment to multilateralism as expressed in the recently approved Commission White Paper on the UN (refs E-F),and thanked the Commission for its desire to support the High-Level Panel on UN Reform. All in all, though, our source said Annan was more interested in what the EU could do for the UN here and now than in the EU's more ambitious, long-range ideas on "effective multilateralism." -------------- ANNAN SPEECH CRITICIZES EU MIGRATION POLICIES -------------- ¶3. (U) On January 29, Annan received the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, in special honor of the UN officials who died in Iraq. To the surprise of a nearly full chamber of MEPs, Annan's address focused on Europe's need to manage immigration better. While praising Europe in the speech's introduction for pursuing "the path of peace through multilateralism," Annan did not mince words on the need to integrate immigrants while accepting their diverse backgrounds: "Migrants need Europe. But Europe also needs migrants. A closed Europe would be a meaner, poorer, weaker, older Europe." -------------- -- EU OFFICIALS: UN GLOBAL APPLICATION OF EU MODEL -------------- -- ¶4. (U) Annan's discussion of migration notwithstanding, EU officials used the award to promote the EU's "effective multilateralism" strategy. EC Ambassador to the UN John Richardson argued at a roundtable discussion that a strengthened UN would follow the example of the EU: "EU and UN goals are congruent -- peace, stability and prosperity throughout the world....For the EU, the UN is the global application of what the EU believes in internally: collective action through international institutions." Richardson added that the EC's current UN observer status would become insufficient if the final EU constitutional treaty gave the EU legal personality and established the post of EU Foreign Minister. -------------- UN AT CENTER OF SOLANA SECURITY STRATEGY -------------- ¶5. (SBU) At the same event, Jim Cloos, EU HighRep Javier Solana's Director for Transatlantic Relations, UN Affairs and Human Rights, emphasized that the essence of Javier Solana's European Security Strategy (ESS) (ref C) was effective multilateralism. He said 21st century security challenges could be met only by the "international community with the UN at its center." -------------- EU'S EFFECTIVE MULTILATERALISM GATHERS STEAM -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Coming at a time that coincided with the Commission White Paper on the EU in the UN, the EP report on the same topic, and EU leaders' endorsement of both the ESS and the Commission paper, the visit has built considerable momentum for the latest Brussels catchphrase, "effective multilateralism." The EU institutions are working on keeping the momentum going: the Commission has started regular dialogues between regional Commission and UN desk officers to increase working-level cooperation, for example, and the EU has invited Deputy UNSYG Louise Frechette to Brussels in March to discuss operational follow-up to Annan's visit. -------------- COMMENT: EU COMMITTED TO UN-BASED APPROACH -------------- ¶7. (C) Annan's visit underlined yet again the strong commitment of EU elites to a UN-centric approach to world affairs. This commitment will clash from time to time with U.S. interests, especially since some in the EU see the U.S. as standing for the opposite paradigm of "unilateralism." We continue to tell our EU interlocutors that the US is equally committed to effective multilateralism, but that we prefer to put the emphasis on effectiveness, and must be prepared to act in the protection of US national interests with like-minded partners in the absence of multilateral consensus. END COMMENT. SCHNABEL