PRIME MINISTER JUNCKER DISCUSSES THE EU

C O N F I D E N T I A L LUXEMBOURG 000638

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL TU LU EUN
SUBJECT: PRIME MINISTER JUNCKER DISCUSSES THE EU
CONSTITUTION AND TURKISH ACCESSION

REF: LUXEMBOURG 00613

Classified By: DCM Steven Kraft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C/NF) During a private meeting with the Ambassador on
December 11, Prime Minister Juncker expressed a pessimism
concerning the future of the EU Constitution which contrasted
with his generally more optimistic public comments. Noting
the lack of effective governments in several EU countries,
including those with relatively weak coalition governments,
Juncker said that "putting Iraq back together would be easy
compared to getting an EU Constitution in place." Although a
fan of German Chancellor Merkel, Juncker said she was
somewhat unrealistic about how far she could go with the
German EU Presidency in such areas as the Constitution and
reforming the system of EU directives. Juncker was also down
on France and President Chirac, saying that lately France was
being particularly difficult to work with.


2. (C) Prime Minister Juncker told Ambassador Wagner that
the USG should put more pressure on Turkey to soften its
position in order to make EU accession possible, saying that
the USG should "be on Turkey" publicly and privately to
compromise in order to gain EU accession. He added that
Turkey had made several good overtures and he felt that the
EU had a responsibility to reciprocate. Juncker noted that
he follows the Turkey and Cyprus issues closely and was in
regular touch with the relevant players (he said he had
"called Cyprus three times" last week). Juncker also
confirmed that while he and his government know that Turkey
should be brought into the EU, Luxembourgers at large were
not at all supportive of Turkey,s accession.


3. (SBU) Later the same day in a public speech at the
University of Luxembourg, Juncker described what he sees as
"a Europe in crisis." He opined that the European public has
lost its "erotic feeling" for Europe writ large, explaining
that its citizens have lost their zeal for EU expansion and
institution building. Now, he said, EU leaders are ahead of
their electorates in building the Union. When caught ahead
of public opinion, Juncker said that national leaders often
"blame Brussels" for unpopular positions and directives,
regardless of whether those same leaders supported the issues
during EU debate or not. He exhorted European leaders to
reinvigorate the community idealism of a younger generation
that has "forgotten the lessons of past European wars."


4. (C) Comment: The dean of EU Heads of Government, Juncker
is an astute observer of EU politics and a strong advocate of
the EU Constitution and greater integration generally. This
makes his pessimism regarding the Constitution especially
noteworthy. On Turkey, we believe the Prime Minister has the
historical perspective to see the benefits of further
integrating Turkey into Europe, and we expect that he will
continue to quietly advocate compromise among all players to
keep the accession process moving.
WAGNER