GERMAN VIEWS ON THE DECEMBER 8-9 EU GAERC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 001628 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV EUN ZL RS IS TU GM SUBJECT: GERMAN VIEWS ON THE DECEMBER 8-9 EU GAERC REF: A. STATE 127023 ¶B. SARAJEVO 1832 ¶C. BERLIN 1548 Classified By: DEPUTY POLITICAL MINISTER COUNSELOR STAN OTTO. REASONS: 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Germany says it is "completely in line" with the U.S. on the way forward in Bosnia, while acknowledging a few "nuances" regarding the conditions for the transition to a EU Special Representative. The discussion of EU enlargement at the December 8-9 GAERC will focus on the Western Balkans, reflecting how distant Turkey's prospects appear at the moment. Germany continues to strongly oppose deploying an EU force to eastern DRC, and believes that even France and Belgium have given up pursuing the idea for now. The EU foreign ministers will announce the EU's interest in intensifying relations with Pakistan and toward that end, the EU Troika foreign ministers are scheduled to visit Islamabad soon to offer enhanced cooperation in a number of areas. Contrary to the original intentions of the French EU Presidency, the 2003 EU Security Strategy will not be changed or updated. Germany prevailed in its view that opening up the Security Strategy to revision could cause "the whole thing to fall apart." On Israeli-Palestinian peace, the GAERC conclusions will not include a planned reference to the EU Action Plan for the Middle East, supposedly at the request of Israeli FM Livni. END SUMMARY. INTERLOCUTORS ¶2. (U) Post delivered an advance copy of ref A points regarding the EU's December 8-9 General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) meeting to MFA Deputy European Correspondent Thomas Schieb November 28 and followed up with him December 5. Post also spoke separately with MFA Deputy Chief of the Near East Office Sibylle Sorg December 3 regarding the points on Israeli-Palestinian Peace. BOSNIA ¶3. (C) Schieb said Germany was "completely in line" with the United States on the way forward, although he did acknowledge that the November 19-20 Peace Implementation Council (PIC) had highlighted a few small "nuances" regarding transition to an EU Special Representative. (NOTE: Ref B reports that Germany was among a handful of countries that suggested at the November 19-20 PIC that they might support transition to a EUSR at the next PIC meeting in March 2009 even if the five-plus-two agenda is not met.) Drawing on ref A, Post emphasized that the U.S. would not support closure of the Office of the High Representative (OHC) and agree to the transition to the EUSR at that PIC meeting unless the 5-plus-2 conditions and objectives had been met in full. EU ENLARGEMENT ¶4. (C) Schieb said he did not expect a long Council discussion of the EU Commission progress reports on the EU candidate countries. The Council conclusions will focus primarily on the Western Balkans and may not even mention Turkey. Schieb took note of our points strongly supporting Turkey's candidacy, but said the country still remains a long way from membership, given the continued ambivalence on the part of many EU members states and Turkey's own domestic political turmoil. KOSOVO ¶5. (U) Schieb said the Council conclusions would welcome the beginning of EULEX's initial operating capability (IOC) on December 9. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO ¶6. (C) Schieb said Germany agreed with all the U.S. points, except for the last one, calling for the formation of a European multinational force to work alongside MONUC to reestablish peace and security in the eastern DRC. Germany continued to oppose the idea, believing that it would provide very little added value to an already substantial MONUC force and would risk drawing the EU into the conflict. He noted that Belgium had recently raised the idea of the EU sending an interim force, but had since dropped it after getting no traction. ¶7. (C) Even if it did not have to provide troops itself, BERLIN 00001628 002 OF 002 Schieb said that Germany would still find such an EU mission objectionable because of the commonly funded costs involved. Schieb thought the idea of an EU force was dead for now and would not be discussed at this GAERC. Schieb noted, however, that the EU is already present in the DRC in the form of two small ESDP missions -- one for training police (EUPOL) and the other supporting security sector reform (EUSEC). He also noted that the Council conclusions would announce 45.6 million Euros in new EU humanitarian assistance. PAKISTAN ¶8. (C) Schieb said the Council conclusions would announce the EU's interest in intensifying relations with Pakistan. Toward that end, the EU Troika foreign ministers are scheduled to visit Islamabad "in the next couple of days" to offer enhanced cooperation in a number of areas, including trade, intercultural exchange, nonproliferation and counterterrorism. Schieb said Germany continued to be open to the idea of contributing to an international trust fund for the FATA and NW Frontier Province, but asked again for more detailed information about how the fund would work (ref C). EUROPEAN SECURITY STRATEGY ¶9. (C) Schieb noted that given that this is the last GAERC of the French EU Presidency, the Council would adopt a number of ESDP documents, including a declaration on strengthening ESDP capabilities, which will "slightly increase" the EU's level of ambition. EU HiRep Solana's report on the 2003 EU Security Strategy will also be noted, but the Strategy itself will not be changed and updated, contrary to earlier French intentions. ¶10. (C) Schieb said that Germany had prevailed in its view that opening up the EU Strategy to revision could cause "the whole thing to fall apart" as each member state sought to make changes. Germany favored keeping the strategy general and therefore a more enduring document. It thought the 2003 Strategy remained largely valid although, as Solana had pointed out in his report, climate change and energy security should now be higher on the agenda. Schieb also conceded that Germany had wanted to avoid opening up the Strategy document for fear of unleashing a protracted debate over Russia and the implications of the August war in Georgia. ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE ¶11. (C) Schieb confirmed that there would be Council conclusions on Israeli-Palestinian peace. He revealed, however, that at the request of Israeli FM Livni, the EU Action Plan for the Middle East will not be mentioned as originally planned, apparently because of the lack of any balancing news to report on the intensification of EU-Israeli relations. ¶12. (C) MFA Deputy Near East Office Chief Sorg agreed with the need to respect the ongoing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, adding that next steps in the peace process should be addressed when the new U.S. Administration is in place and after the Israeli elections. Regarding security and other institutional assistance to the Palestinian Authority, Sorg noted that the Netherlands and the UK will be responsible for implementing the projects that have come out of Germany,s June 2008 Palestinian civilian security assistance conference. She noted that Germany will also be providing justice sector and police assistance as party of its bilateral program. Koenig