FRENCH EUROPEAN AFFAIRS SECRETARY SHARES VIEWS ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 004667

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV EUN FR
SUBJECT: FRENCH EUROPEAN AFFAIRS SECRETARY SHARES VIEWS ON
EU PRESIDENCY


Classified By: DCM Mark Pekala for reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) SUMMARY. On December 4, Ambassador Stapleton and DCM
Pekala met with Jean-Pierre Jouyet, State Secretary for
European Affairs at the MFA. Jouyet stated his expectation
of quick French ratification of the simplified EU treaty and
outlined France's priorities of immigration, energy and
environment, and security for its upcoming EU Presidency.
Jouyet and Amb. Stapleton identified energy/environment and
defense as two areas in which close cooperation with the U.S.
will be of particular mutual benefit during the French EU
Presidency. END SUMMARY.

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SIMPLIFIED TREATY TO BE QUICKLY RATIFIED
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2. (C) Jouyet outlined the schedule for French ratification
of the simplified EU treaty, which he envisions taking place
in a two-month span. Consistent with earlier public
statements (ref Paris Points for November 5),he foresees
that the Constitutional Council will recommend the necessary
changes to the French Constitution to permit ratification of
the new treaty, which will then be reviewed by the Council of
Ministers in early January before the package is approved by
Parliament in early February. He added that France desires
to ratify the treaty quickly, not only for its symbolic value
-- highlighting that Europe is on the right track, with
France in the driver's seat -- but also so it can move on to
focusing on preparations for its upcoming EU Presidency. He
noted that a referendum is unnecessary since the draft treaty
is not a "constitution" and involves no transfer of
sovereignty, as did the Maastricht Treaty.


3. (C) Jouyet noted that the Slovenian Presidency in the
first half of 2008 will have to devote significant attention
to treaty ratification, with special attention given to the
more challenging national ratification processes in Great
Britain, Ireland, and the Czech Republic. A key task for
both 2008 EU Presidencies will be determining how the treaty
will be implemented in terms of details and working
procedures.

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FRENCH EU PRESIDENCY
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4. (C) OVERVIEW: Jouyet and Amb. Stapleton agreed that
France has an ambitious agenda that may serve Europe very
well. Jouyet noted that France's Presidency must be decisive
and effective in order to have its initiatives adopted by the
European Parliament before it breaks to prepare for the
European elections in June 2009. Jouyet said that France's
good relations with Slovenia and the Czech Republic will help
ensure smooth transfers, though dialogue continues with the
Czech Republic on the implications of the new treaty. He
noted that France will have over 100 embassies handling
external relations for the EU during the Slovenian Presidency.


5. (C) IMMIGRATION: On the first of France's priority
areas, Jouyet quoted President Sarkozy in stating that the
effort to develop a common approach to migration and
immigration among EU member-states will have "no taboos."
France will push for an immigration pact with its fellow
member-states, capitalizing on the general realization in
Europe that questions like regularization, asylum, visas,
border crossings, and other "demographic questions" must be
addressed. Jouyet said that to ensure progress, France will
present concrete proposals. He said France's immigration
effort would be helped immeasurably by standardization of the
Visa Waiver Program across the EU. DCM Pekala noted that
consideration of changes to the Visa Waiver Program is
underway, saying that as we work to get additional European
countries in, we must also work for better exchanges of
information with all participant countries, to ultimately
strenghten the program.


6. (C) ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT: Jouyet expressed "energy and
environment" as a combined goal, varying from earlier
descriptions of two separate goals that happened to dovetail.
He said France will focus on fighting global warming by
realizing Kyoto and post-Kyoto goals at the European level.
The French Presidency will look at energy policy, renewable
energy, and burdensharing within Europe and with its major
partners, with a sector-by-sector approach to ensure level
playing fields among competitors. He stressed the importance
that energy policy be comprehensive, including competition as
a key issue. France will push questions of how Europe can
diversify its energy sources and lessen dependence on Russia
and other countries. Jouyet said that France will also
present concrete measures in this issue area, with goals like

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encouraging consumption of green products.


7. (C) Nuclear issues: Jouyet stated that France will also
open discussion on two nuclear issues: nuclear security and
handling of nuclear waste. Nuclear security is especially
important among newer EU members in the East, who committed
in the accession process to improving their security
measures. France will also seek to further European
discussion on how to handle nuclear waste, including
promotion of R&D. When asked, Jouyet said that newer members
of the EU, the UK, and Italy are prepared for matter-of-fact
discussions about nuclear energy. He contrasted Germany's
lack of readiness for a pragmatic discussion of nuclear
energy -- due to its domestic political coalition -- with the
current leadership's recognition that such discussion could
be in Germany's strategic interests.


8. (C) SECURITY: Jouyet described the French Presidency's
third major goal as security writ broadly, including civil
aspects such as maritime security and natural disasters,
which he noted Europe has no common means to address.
Regarding ESDP, he noted that France views a strong European
pillar within NATO as in both U.S. and European interests,
and thus will pursue a combined ESDP and NATO approach, while
avoiding conflict with the UK.


9. (C) EXTERNAL RELATIONS: Jouyet noted that efforts to
ensure a constructive partnership with Russia could heavily
engage the French Presidency. He also mentioned scheduled
summits with India, Korea, Canada, and Africa. Finally,
Jouyet noted that France will be pursuing its Mediterranean
Union initiative, which he said must be very pragmatic and
linked closely to the ongoing Euromed dialogue.


10. (C) OTHER INTERNAL ISSUES: Jouyet noted that France has
two additional agenda items already set: the Common
Agricultural Policy and the European budget. He said the CAP
review is ready to move towards more linkages between
producers and production. He noted that prices are generally
good in the agricultural sector, particularly for food
products. He said French priorities for the CAP would be
more energy efficiency, environmental sensitivity, food
security and traceability. Regarding the budget, Jouyet said
France will have to lead the effort to determine European
budget priorities for 2013 and beyond.

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CLOSE COORDINATION WITH U.S. DESIRED
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11. (C) Jouyet and Amb. Stapleton identified two areas in
which the U.S. can be particularly helpful to the French
Presidency: energy/environment and defense. France needs to
know how much room it has to maneuver on defense efforts, as
defined by U.S. views. Jouyet said "France has an open mind
towards NATO." Jouyet noted that the Embassy's role will be
important, as delivering the right messages at the right
moment will be more critical than usual with France acting as
the EU Presidency, not just on its own behalf. He noted that
if a crisis arises during the Slovenian Presidency, France
will step in to support the EU effort, making sharing of U.S.
views with France very important. He said that continued
close cooperation on external issues like Iran, Iraq, and
Afghanistan will also be key.


12. (C) In response to questions, Amb. Stapleton said that
the next U.S. President will need to work closely with France
regarding defense (possible NATO rapprochement, support for
ESDP) and the environment, noting that these issues enjoy
general consensus in the current presidential campaigns. He
said both U.S. and European approaches to world issues are
necessary, and that we gain from each other,s successes.
Jouyet expressed much interest in the U.S. presidential
campaigns. Jouyet raised the weak dollar, saying he is
confident the exchange rate will be corrected because a
strong Euro is not in the interest of U.S. investors or
consumers.


13. (C) COMMENT. Jouyet has a good sense for what President
Sarkozy hopes to accomplish in the EU Presidency, which
should help ensure that France's efforts are harmonious and
efficient. The French Presidency effort, coordinated from
the Prime Minister's Office by Amb. Claude Blanchemaison, is
lean but well-organized. We judge Jouyet's candid, pragmatic
approach to the U.S.-EU relationship bodes well for
constructive interactions throughout the French EU
Presidency. END COMMENT.

Please visit Paris' Classified Website at:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm


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STAPLETON