FRANCE: POSITIVE ON TSA INTERMODAL DIALOGUE, TEPID

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 001382

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/WE-JLEVIN, SBALL, EB/TRA-ARADETSKY,
S/CT-KAGUILAR
DHS FOR TSA-INTL PROGRAMS-DTIEDGE,
DHS FOR BTS-RBEARDSWORTH, CCLARK
ICE FOR FOREIGN OPS DIVISION
CBP FOR OIA-KTHOMSEN
BRUSSELS FOR USEU-SCRISTINA AND TSA-RCAMPBELL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2015
TAGS: EAIR PTER FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE: POSITIVE ON TSA INTERMODAL DIALOGUE, TEPID
ON SOME EA REQUIREMENTS

REF: A. 04 PARIS 9137


B. 04 STATE 217111

C. 04 PARIS 7092

D. 04 PARIS 5566

Classified By: ECONOMIC MINISTER-COUNSELOR THOMAS J. WHITE,
EMBASSY PARIS FOR REASONS 1.4B AND D


1. (C) SUMMARY: In February 24 meetings with TSA
International Programs Assistant Administrator David Tiedge,
French officials

-listened to U.S. concerns about Emergency Amendment
implementation, agreed to continue discussion, but
sidestepped new commitments;

-agreed to continue discussions toward a common matrix of
aviation security measures for flights of interest, and
requested TSA define a calendar of airport assessments;

-foresaw few significant problems with new TSA restrictions
regarding cigarette lighters on board aircraft;

-agreed to launch a dialogue with TSA on rail and public
transport security; and

-reviewed France's global approach to counterterrorism and
national security.


2. (SBU) Tiedge met separately with Air France senior
executive Guy Tardieu who projected that Air France could
provide its Master Crew List to the GOF for TSA in a matter
of weeks. In addition, Tardieu declared that Air France
needed more French law enforcement support when denying
boarding to No-Fly passengers and better coordination with
French border police in order to improve the implementation
of Selectee and No-Fly Emergency Amendments. He thanked the
U.S. for no longer subjecting French crew members born
outside of France to NSEERS secondary screening upon entry
and said that TSA's upcoming ban of cigarette lighters on
U.S.-bound flights should not present a significant problem
for Air France. END SUMMARY


3. (SBU) While in Paris to participate in European
Conference on Civil Aviation (ECAC) meetings, TSA's Assistant
Administrator for International Programs David Tiedge met
with a GOF interagency group, which included representatives
from the Ministries of Interior, Defense and Foreign Affairs,
chaired by Bernard Boube, Protection and Security Director at
the General Secretariat of National Defense (SGDN). (NOTE:
SGDN, under the authority of the office of the Prime
Minister, coordinates national security policy within the
ministries and agencies of the GOF. END NOTE.) Tiedge held
a separate meeting with Guy Tardieu, Chief of Staff to Air
France (AF) CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta and discussed operational
security with France's civil aviation authority (DGAC)
director for aviation security Yves Meusburger.

SGDN: TSA-GOF Dialogue
--------------

4. (C) At SGDN, in response to a TSA proposal, Bernard Boube
agreed that the U.S. and France should quickly launch a
regular dialogue on security in all modes of transport, going
beyond aviation to encompass rail and public transit. Tiedge
said the U.S. was interested in learning about France's
experience in securing rail and land transport and public
transit networks. Such a dialogue, he said, would enhance
the GOF/US close working relationship on these issues and
give both sides an opportunity to share best practices.

SGDN: Aviation Security, EA Implementation
--------------

5. (C) Tiedge offered that the U.S. and U.K. had agreed on a
matrix of aviation security measures for "flights of
interest" and suggested that TSA continue to work with the
French civil aviation authority, DGAC (Direction Generale de
l'Aviation Civile),to agree on similar measures for flights
departing France for U.S. airspace. Boube explained that the
GOF has a catalog of measures in place for flights of
interest and would like to continue discussions already begun
with TSA (REF D) with a view to finding common ground. Both
sides agreed that the 2003 holiday period clearly
demonstrated that establishing common aviation security
measures in advance of threats to civil aviation is vastly
preferable to having to cancel flights for lack of a set of
joint incremental security steps to help manage crises.

6. (C) Tiedge asked why French airlines were not carrying
out EA requirements on sharing Master Crew Lists, or
complying with some notification requirements (to the
Transportation Security Intelligence Service, TSIS, for
example) in the No-Fly and Selectee EAs, according to the
U.S./GOF agreement on alternative proposals for EA
implementation (REF B).


7. (C) Boube responded indirectly, saying that U.S./GOF
discussions should continue on the matter. He indicated that
the U.S. was fully aware that the GOF had a problem with EAs
requiring French airlines to contact USG agencies directly
and suggested that Selectee procedures in general should
eventually refer to a future jointly-agreed catalog of
security measures. Boube expressed incredulity at the
possibility that the Selectee list could contain tens of
thousands of names and said that the challenges the Selectee
list is designed to address would be better handled by more
intelligence sharing between our experts, rather than by
circulating a data-heavy list, which airlines had difficulty
manipulating.


8. (SBU) SGDN's Henri Schlienger presented an overview of
the GOF's management of aviation security and specifically
asked TSA to define a calendar of visits for French airport
assessments in advance.

SGDN: GOF Global National Security concept
--------------

9. (SBU) In addition to discussing the above issues, French
officials also reviewed France's global national security
concept explaining the role and powers of the President, the
Prime Minister and individual ministers, from threat
assessment to planning objectives and readiness drills, to
the "Vigipirate" program that implements security measures in
the public arena. They pointed out that, as opposed to the
U.S. model of regrouping homeland security responsibilities
into a single ministry, France's long experience with
European conflicts and with terrorism within its boundaries
reinforced the GOF's tested method of handling threats to the
homeland through intense interministerial cooperation.

DGAC: Operational Aviation Security
--------------

10. (SBU) In a separate meeting, Tiedge briefed France's
civil aviation authority (DGAC) security director Yves
Meusburger on TSA's upcoming ban of cigarette lighters (and
potentially matches) on U.S.-bound flights. Meusburger said
it should not present a significant problem for DGAC and that
when necessary, DGAC would issue a security directive
addressing airlines to comply with the restriction for
flights departing France for the U.S. Meusburger responded
positively to Tiedge's reiteration of U.S. interest in
continuing discussions on a common matrix of aviation
security measures for flights of interest. When asked why
French airlines were not complying with all EA notification
requirements, Meusburger indicated that Selctee name match
notification to TSIS may be addressed in the future through a
DGAC-issued security directive following additional
coordination with SGDN and with relevant ministries.


11. (SBU) Tiedge agreed to DGAC's request to conduct a
reciprocal security assessment of Air France's (AF) operation
at JFK airport and suggested it be coordinated through the
TSA office at Embassy Paris. In addition, both DGAC and TSA

SIPDIS
discussed their respective organizational changes.

Air France Efforts
--------------

12. (SBU) In a subsequent meeting, Guy Tardieu told Tiedge
that AF's Master Crew List could probably be provided to the
GOF for transmission to TSA (as agreed to in U.S./French
alternative procedures, REF B) in the correct format in "a
matter of weeks" following a period of necessary tests.
Tardieu allowed that AF still had some difficulty
implementing TSA-required No-Fly procedures and the airline
had legal concerns about whether the airline had the
authority to deny boarding to a someone seeking to board an
AF flight on French territory on the basis of a U.S.
government recommendation. Generally, he said, GOF
directives were sufficient to allow AF to implement EAs but
AF needed more support from French Air and Border Police (the
PAF - Police de l'Air et des Frontires).


13. (SBU) On the transmission of Passenger Name Record (PNR)
data, which Tardieu understands is a Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) requirement outside the purview of TSA,
Tardieu reported that technical problems persisted with
transmitting required PNR data elements to CBP on flights
headed for the U.S. The problems stemmed, he said, from
separate, unlinked data systems for reservation and departure
control systems which are common to all non-U.S. carriers.
Tardieu said AF appreciated the time that CBP's technicians
already had spent in communications with AF's technical
experts and said he believed it was simply a matter of time
until technical solutions to transmission problems were in
place.


14. (SBU) Tardieu thanked the U.S. for no longer subjecting
French crew members born outside of France to CBP's National
Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) secondary
screening upon entry and, when Tiedge updated him about new
U.S. restrictions on items on-board U.S.-bound flights, said
that TSA's upcoming ban of cigarette lighters on U.S.-bound
flights should not present a significant problem for Air
France.

COMMENT
--------------

15. (C) On the details of EA implementation, SGDN's Boube
may have kept his comments deliberately vague so as not to
commit the GOF to elements not specifically addressed in the
U.S.-GOF alternative procedures agreement. The Embassy's
regular senior-level interlocutor at SGDN on EA issues --
Deputy Secretary General Scott de Martinville -- was away for
the week and unavailable to meet with Tiedge on February 24.
It is possible that Boube may not have been apprised of all
the features of the EAs or of the agreement. Embassy will
seek more information through our regular contacts at SGDN.


16. (U) TSA Assistant Administrator David Tiedge cleared
this message.
Leach