FRENCH MFA CFSP CHIEFS ON EU DYNAMICS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003843

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2016
TAGS: PREL FR EUN COE KPAL CY TU
SUBJECT: FRENCH MFA CFSP CHIEFS ON EU DYNAMICS

REF: PARIS 2313

Classified By: Acting PolCouns Bruce Turner for reasons 1.4 (B & D).


1. (C) Summary: In a June 6 meeting, the MFA's CFSP chiefs
lamented a certain absence of political will in the EU, but
argued that the EU had largely succeeded, through an increase
in ESDP operations, in recapturing some momentum following
rejection of the EU constitutional treaty. They indicated
that France was slowly moving toward a more critical view of
Russia and personally dreaded upcoming discussions on
Turkey's progress vis-a-vis Cyprus. They also noted the
difficulties of achieving EU consensus on foreign policy,
citing differing views on treatment of Hamas as well as other
Europeans' wariness of increased involvement in Africa. They
described the Austrian presidency as fair, if somewhat
lacking in dynamism and vision, intimating that they would
expect more from the Finns come July. End Summary.


2. (C) Acting PolCouns and Poloff met June 6 with MFA Chief
for CFSP Jean-Louis Falconi and his deputy Pascal Le Deunff
to discuss how French views toward the EU's evolving common
security, foreign and defense policies had in the context of,
or as compensation for, French rejection a year ago of the
institutional reforms contained in the EU constitutional
treaty. Falconi described the EU as currently lacking in the
political will to pursue closer integration, which he blamed
largely on the EU's failure to articulate an updated vision
of its raison d'etre. In the early days it had been enough
to overcome the divisions of war, but this no longer provided
adequate motivation for a generation that took Europe for
granted the ability to travel to or study in other European
countries. They lacked appreciation.


3. (C) Le Deunff added that the absence of political will
was more characteristic of the EU's older members than its
newer ones. The problem was that these countries were often
mostly focused on Russia. After some discussion, Le Deunff
conceded that this renewed vigilance was justified, and he
allowed that the EU -- including France -- was slowly
reconsidering how it approached Russia following Russia's
bullying on Ukraine. He was proud, however, of the EU's
success in working with the U.S. to support Ukraine during
the Orange Revolution. Asked about Cyprus, Falconi was more
circumspect, saying only that he was not looking forward to
the review of Turkey's progress in the autumn. He wondered
also whether Turkey's ardor for membership was slowly cooling.


4. (C) Using Hamas as an example, Falconi nonetheless
indicated that gaining EU consensus on a common foreign
policy position was increasingly difficult. Although France
was in favor of setting down a general EU line on principle
and was generally hard-line on Hamas, a number of other EU
member states -- he cited the UK and Sweden -- favored a much
more ad hoc, case-by-case approach. This created problems
for France, not only because it tended to approach problems
in a Cartesian manner, but also because of its obligations
under its convention with the COE to permit delegations to
travel to meetings. (Note: Per reftel, France in this
instance did not issue visas to the Hamas-affiliated
officials. End note.)


5. (C) Africa, he said, was also difficult. While France,
the UK, Belgium and Portugal were keenly interested in a
greater EU role on the continent, a number of other member
states continued to have reservations. Falconi nonetheless
expressed satisfaction with the EU mission to the DRC, as
well as to Gaza. On the DRC, he was delighted that the Poles
had come up with a contribution of 200 personnel, adding that
even the Slovaks had come up with two. (Note: The DRC
mission will be headquartered in Potsdam, with France and
Germany providing the bulk of the forces.) He noted that EU
funding for ESDP operations had increased from some 60
million to well over 100 million euros, which was enabling
the EU to assume a more global role despite its recent
institutional setbacks. (Note: Falconi did not break down
the CFSP budget, but we understand that the 100 million
amount includes CFSP secretariat expenditures, such as for
Solana's travels.) We asked whether the EU's perceived
successes were proof that the best course for the future
would be to demonstrate the EU's usefulness through pragmatic
actions rather than institutional chest-thumping. Falconi
did not disagree, while insisting that EU institutions would
nonetheless need to be reformed in order to make the EU more
effective.


6. (C) The conclusion of the meeting was interrupted by a
call from the Austrian Presidency to begin coordination on
how to respond to Montenegro's request for recognition.
Falconi commented that the Austrians bent over backwards to
be fair, but sometimes at the expense of efficiency and
effectiveness. He concluded that they lacked political
leadership, while adding that absence of leadership was still

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preferable to a presidency that attempted to hold the other
member states hostage to its own parochial interests. He
looked forward to the Finnish chairmanship, with Le Deunff
suggesting that the U.S. would find easy access for read-outs.
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm

STAPLETON