UNGA 59: SHUNNING SOUNDBITES, EU TARGETS PRACTICAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001800

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

IO FOR LAGON, IO/UNP - WEINBERG; DRL FOR KOZAK; USUN FOR
SIV, TAMLYN, SPIRNAK, KENNEDY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PHUM AORC NL UNGA UN
SUBJECT: UNGA 59: SHUNNING SOUNDBITES, EU TARGETS PRACTICAL
PRIORITIES

REF: TRAUB FAX TO USUN AND IO/UNP OF 7/16/04


1. (U) SUMMARY: The EU's priorities paper for the UN (ref a)
contains practical ideas to fix the UN system. Written in UN
jargon, it is not intending to appeal to the general public,
Karel van Kesteren, Director of UN affairs at the MFA, told
Poloff on July 14. Five of the seven points (faxed to IO/UNP
and USUN on July 16) cover UN reform: prep for the "2005
Major Plenary"; "UNGA Revitalization"; "Triennial
Comprehensive Policy Review of UN Development Activities";
"Capital Master Plan"; and, Reform of the Budgetary
Process." Of the other two, Disarmament and
Non-proliferation" is focuses on practical steps to enhance
security. End Summary.


2. (C) Van Kesteren said the EU discarded their traditional
catchall paper this year since in the past it had always
turned out to be an over-long product of consensus drafting.
The goals for this year's paper were succinctness and focus,
following the U.S. and Chinese models, he said. He compared
the EU's effort to list practical actions to the USG's
promotion of legitimate, albeit more political, goals with
catchy titles (ref b discusses his reaction to our UNGA
priorities paper).

EU PRIORITIES


3. (SBU) 2005 Major Event - Staging a "Quantum Leap"

The UN needs to make a "quantum leap" to remain viable and
relevant, van Kesteren asserted. The EU wants to lead
efforts this year to prepare for next year's high level
plenary to review the SYG's reform paper. Central to EU
plans for UNGA 59 is a review of the progress made toward the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).


4. (SBU) General Assembly Revitalization: "Cut all the junk"
and Engage Ministers in Developing World Capitals

Van Kesteren used colorful language to describe the UN agenda
and the EU's determination to purge "relics from the '60's"
with "no relevance today even in the most strident of
developing countries." Next year's plenary creates a good
opening.


5. (SBU) Van Kesteren insisted that interested developed
countries and groups must work harder in the capitals of
developing countries, at the highest level, to bring about
successful UNGA reform. He named Egypt, Nigeria, India, and
Pakistan as countries in which appreciation for modern
economic and governance policies by governments at home had
not translated into more productive positions in New York.
The various reasons -- communications, coordination, focus,
incentive -- should be surmountable. He said the USG would
have to help with the effort since we "have the diplomatic
resources in the field" compared to the EU, which still
depends on individual member states.


6. (SBU) Disarmament and non-proliferation

The EU aims to make the work of the First Committee more
relevant. They will also look for opportunities to promote
resolutions on WMD, although van Kesteren did not suggest the
EU had a draft ready to share on any particular subject.


7. (SBU) Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review of UN
Development Activities and Operations

Van Kesteren pointed to this mouthful as "proof the EU is not
trying to catch the eye" of the man or woman on the street
with its paper. The goal of this item is to advance
coordination, simplification and harmonization of the arcane
range of UN development activities both in headquarters and
especially in the field, to make donors' monies go further.


8. (SBU) Capital Master Plan - Special Terms through a
Repayment Facility

The EU still hopes the USG will sweeten the financing of the
CMP, acknowledging that the interest-free loan idea had
foundered on legitimate USG budgetary rules. Van Kesteren
pitched an idea he said he had already shared with USUN,
involving setting up a special repayment facility for the CMP
loan.


9. (SBU) Member States would pay into the fund of the
repayment facility according to the old UN scale of
assessment without taking any special adjustments. Under
this scheme, he figured the USG would pay about 31 percent,
not too high considering the special responsibilities of the
host country. He suggested the economic benefit of building
in New York would offset this higher amount. He asked for
the USG reaction to this idea.


10. (SBU) Reform of the Budgetary Process

The EU seeks to "build on Resolution 58/271, which aims to
equip the UN better to meet the MDGs." A special focus would
be on staff recruitment and deployment of posts.


11. (SBU) Security and Safety of the UN

The UN has learned that it is "not above the law of the
jungle" as far as terrorism is concerned. Citing the attacks
in Iraq, Van Kesteren said it is imperative that the UN
Member States provide the means and foster the will inside
the UN to protect UN personnel, both at Headquarters and in
the field.

COMMENT


12. (SBU) The EU's short list of UNGA goals represents the
nexus of EU consensus and realism as to what the Members
believe they can reasonably achieve at UNGA 59. This
represents the start of a two year process culminating in the
UNGA 60 plenary dedicated to reform. The EU's new mantra,
"Effective Multilateralism," is missing here, perhaps because
the drafters to wanted to avoid "sound bite drafting." It may
still represent the unspoken aim of their chosen tasks for
UNGA 59, even if their immediate concerns appear fairly down
in the weeds.
RUSSEL