THE EU "GYMNICH" MEETINGS - HOW THEY OPERATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001620

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: THE EU "GYMNICH" MEETINGS - HOW THEY OPERATE

REF: SECTO 007

Classified By: Kyle Scott, PolMinCouns, Reason 1.4 (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Informal transatlantic "Gymnich" style
meetings could provide a useful forum for informal exchanges
that might help bridge the current impasse in NATO/EU
relations. END SUMMARY


2. (C) In recent months, several proposals have been floated
for more informal meetings between foreign policy chiefs in
Europe with their U.S. counterpart. Belgian PM Verhofstadt
has suggested an EU/US "Transatlantic Gymnich" meeting, and
NATO SYG De Hoop Scheffer (ref) has also suggested a combined
EU/NATO foreign ministers meeting. With that in mind, we
offer the following background on what "Gymnichs" are and how
they work.


3. (U) "Gymnich" refers to an informal gathering of all 25 EU
Foreign Ministers, together with the CFSP High Rep (Solana)
and the External Relations Commissioner. Named after the
German castle near Bonn where the practice was established in
1974, these meetings are held once during each six-month EU
Presidency, usually on a weekend or on Friday-Saturday, at a
resort in the Presidency country (most recently on April
15-16 at Senningen Chateau in Luxembourg). The venue often
has a special meaning for the hosting FM, e.g. a historic
site in his/her constituency that he/she will enjoy
presenting to colleagues, though security inevitably plays a
role in choosing a site. There is traditionally a social
program, to which the ministers' spouses are invited.


4. (U) EU FMs already meet together some fifteen times a
year, at monthly GAERC sessions (except in August) and as
part of the delegations for the quarterly EU summits. But
these meetings have formal agendas related to the important
role they play in the EU's legal and decision-making
structures. "Gymnichs," by contrast, are supposed to have an
informal character that prevents the adoption of any EU
legislation or policies and encourages freer, more
forward-looking discussions than at their GAERC gatherings in
EU buildings in Brussels. Delegations are supposed to be
small, just minister plus three or four, since the lack of
formal decisions means less staff support is needed, in
theory. The preparations also differ: the Council's working
groups in Brussels are not involved as the basic purpose of a
"Gymnich" removes the need for exchanging signals or forging
compromises ahead of the meeting. A "Gymnich" therefore has
no formal agenda. The hosting FM proposes agenda issues,
shared with capitals in an invitation letter, and usually
meant to be oriented toward the medium or long-term. But
topical issues, major foreign policy developments or crises
will inevitably be addressed.


5. (SBU) The success of Gymnichs in encouraging informal or
freewheeling debate among EUFMs is mixed at best. In our
view, Gymnichs most resemble GAERCs without the Conclusions
and the neckties. The EU's increased membership, the
inevitably growing delegations, the needs of the media for a
press center and press conferences, and the ever-stricter
security requirements all conspire to turn these informal
sessions into carefully scripted events. In the last
several years, perhaps only the Greek Gymnich on the remote
island of Kastellorizo in March 2002 can be argued to have
made any significant contribution in terms of "new thinking"
in EU foreign policy, having served as the launching pad for
what eventually became the European Security Strategy in
December 2002. Greek FM Papandreou tried at the same meeting
to promote a freewheeling discussion on US-EU relations by
soliciting thirty-odd papers on the topic from independent
experts and commentators. This proved too much for the
assembled FMs to digest.


6. (C) COMMENT: For EUFMs, who already meet so frequently in
formal sessions, it is the informal nature of Gymnichs that
is the supposed to make them stand out. For the U.S., a
"transatlantic Gymnich" would provide a different dynamic
from the regular, semi-annual US-EU ministerials, in that the
latter sessions are in US plus EU Troika (Presidency FM,
Solana, and RELEX Commissioner) format. A Transatlantic
Gymnich (or a NATO-EU "Gymnich") would be for the U.S. plus
EU at 25. The challenge in such a large forum would be
maintaining informality and coherence, while resisting the
temptation to over-schedule the event. To the extent such
meetings could help bridge the current impasse in NATO/EU
relations, Mission believes they could be useful.

MCKINLEY
.