Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BRUSSELS1540
2008-10-02 12:34:00
CONFIDENTIAL
USEU Brussels
Cable title:  

FRENCH MOVING THE EU-CUBA DIALOGUE FORWARD

Tags:  PREL EUN EAID CU 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001540 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/ERA ELIZABETH KONICK, WHA/CCA, WHA/CUBAN
TRANSITION, EMBASSY PARIS FOR JEROME HOHMAN, EMBASSY MADRID
FOR STROTHER MURRAY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2018
TAGS: PREL EUN EAID CU
SUBJECT: FRENCH MOVING THE EU-CUBA DIALOGUE FORWARD

Classified By: USEU Polmincouns Christopher Davis for reasons 1.5 (b) a
nd (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001540

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/ERA ELIZABETH KONICK, WHA/CCA, WHA/CUBAN
TRANSITION, EMBASSY PARIS FOR JEROME HOHMAN, EMBASSY MADRID
FOR STROTHER MURRAY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2018
TAGS: PREL EUN EAID CU
SUBJECT: FRENCH MOVING THE EU-CUBA DIALOGUE FORWARD

Classified By: USEU Polmincouns Christopher Davis for reasons 1.5 (b) a
nd (d).


1. (C) Summary: France is working to start an EU political
dialogue with the Government of Cuba before the Czech
Republic takes over the EU Presidency in January 2009. EU
Council and Member State interlocutors in the course of
separate conversations in late September assured us that
human rights and democracy would be on the agenda for any
discussions and that the EU would continue its outreach to
civil society and the democratic opposition. Separately,
Commission officials also assured us that the Commissioner
for Development Louis Michel will visit Cuba in late October
and take up a discussion of human rights in addition to
development issues. No matter when the political dialogue
begins officially, unless the Cuban human rights situation
deteriorates markedly or the Czech Republic chooses to take a
stand on the issue, we expect inertia to exert strong
pressure for the EU Council to renew the dialogue next June.
End Summary.


2. (C) In late June 2008, after overcoming the skepticism
of Member States such as the Czech Republic and Sweden, the
EU Council agreed to pursue a comprehensive political
dialogue with the Government of Cuba and to lift a number of
already suspended &restrictive measures8 imposed in 2003.
In early September, the Government of Cuba accepted the EU,s
offer to pursue dialogue. Between September 19 and 26,
PolOff discussed the status of these talks with EU Council,
European Commission, French, Czech, and Spanish officials.
All interlocutors assured us that the EU would keep human
rights and democracy in the discussion and continue EU
outreach to civil society and the democratic opposition.
Counselor for Latin America at the French Permanent
Representation Valerie Liang-Champrenault also told PolOff in
late September that the Cuban Ambassador in Brussels had
agreed that human rights would be on the table.


3. (C) The Council Secretariat,s Nicolas Pascual de la
Parte and French PermRep,s Liang-Champrenault said the
French are pressing to get the talks underway during their

Presidency. Pascual de la Parte (please protect) implied
this was because the Czechs, who take over the Presidency in
January, take a hard line on Cuba. Liang-Champrenault,
however, attributed it to the fact that the Czech Republic is
a small country with less capacity to manage the launch of
talks. She said the Government of Cuba is making things
difficult, however, by insisting on signing a framework for
discussions before engaging in an official dialogue,
something Liang-Champrenault said the EU does not do. She
said France wants Cuba to back down from this idea and is
advising Havana that Cuba would be better off talking to the
EU with France in the Presidency than with the Czech
Republic. Informal meetings will continue in Brussels to try
to resolve the issue.


4. (C) Cuba can be a polarizing issue among Member States,
Pascual de la Parte said, but Member States expressed a
surprising unity in their discussions with PolOff. Spain,
one of the Member States that has advocated greater outreach
to Cuba, assured us that the dialogue will cover all areas.
Katerina Beckova and Radka Patalova, Latin America watchers
in the Czech mission, said Prague supports outreach and was
not prejudging the dialogue. The Czech Republic will follow
the issue closely, however, especially since the Council
decision to open a dialogue will be up for renewal next June,
at the end of the Czech Presidency.


5. (C) The European Commission is also continuing its
outreach to the Government of Cuba, focusing formally on
development, humanitarian, cultural, and economic issues.
John Caloghirou, Head of the Caribbean Unit in the
Commission,s DG Development, and Isabelle Martinho, desk
officer for Cuba, said that when Commissioner Louis Michel
visits Cuba in late October, he will focus on humanitarian
and development issues, per his Commission mandate. However,
they said, Michel is a former Belgian Foreign Minister and a

BRUSSELS 00001540 002 OF 002


political animal, and he always raises human rights when he
talks to the Government of Cuba. After Michel,s last visit
to Cuba in March, his office said that human rights changes
were in the pipeline and recommended an end to the EU,s
restrictive measures.


6. (C) Comment: Whatever the French are able to accomplish
this year, we expect inertia to make it difficult for EU
leaders to renounce the dialogue next June unless the human
rights situation in Cuba deteriorates markedly ) as in 2003,
when the EU imposed its restrictive measures in the first
place. Nevertheless, the Czech Republic could choose to take
a stand on the issue next year. In this case, we would
expect a debate within the Council, with Spain actively
seeking to extend the dialogue while the Czech Presidency
works to stall. End Comment.
.