EC ON INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT CONFERENCE ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000640 SIPDIS SIPDIS SCA/A FOR LAUREN FRESE, EUR/ERA FOR NATHANIEL DEAN, USAID FOR WARD E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/24/2018 TAGS: PREL PGOV AF EU EAID ECON EFIN EUN KDEM SUBJECT: EC ON INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN REF: STATE 32155 Classified By: PolMinCouns Laurence Wohlers for reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary: The European Commission would like to coordinate with the United States in the lead-up to the June 12 International Support Conference on Afghanistan. Commission contacts agree (and have made this point to the French government) that the total pledge must surpass the $10.5 billion achieved in the 2006 London Conference in order for the meeting to be portrayed as a success, although contacts are concerned that surpassing that figure might prove difficult. Commission contacts tell USEU that the inclusion of all assistance pledged since the London conference is useful in that it allows the Commission to present a significant and "respectable" pledge at the Paris conference, totaling close to one billion U.S. dollars. The Commission view is that the conference should not be a pure "pledging" event and that the Afghans should bring their own commitments to the conference. Commission contacts also expressed concern that journalists will see through any attempt to couch money already committed as "new pledges". Both Commission and Council Secretariat contacts expect Commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner as well as EU High Representative Javier Solana to attend the Paris Support Conference. End Summary. ¶2. (C) In a meeting with USEU, Commission Head of Unit for Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Maldives Helen Campbell and Afghanistan Development Aid desk officer Paul Turner suggested that the United States, the Commission, and France coordinate positions in advance of the Paris conference through telephone conferences. Campbell noted that such telcons were extremely useful in the lead-up to the London conference on Afghanistan in 2006, when they included Washington, the Commission, and Tokyo. She added that it would be useful to hold such telcons weekly, beginning the week of May 5. Campbell noted the EC would be happy to approach Paris on this idea if we agreed, and suggested that perhaps Washington could approach Paris in parallel. In particular, the EC would like to coordinate with the United States on a "common line" regarding actions we would like the Government of Afghanistan to take. Campbell noted actions related to the Ministry of Interior, corruption, and senior appointments as possibile areas to target, but expressed openness to other ideas from Washington. BRUSSELS 00000640 002 OF 003 ¶3. (C) The Commission would also like to discuss with the United States possible "success stories" and "challenges" that we could jointly point to at the conference (a model they said Paris wanted international donors to employ). Campbell and Turner suggested one idea of highlighting the ANA as a success story and discussing how to use the ANA as a model for the international community's efforts with the police. They added that they were very interested in doing something jointly with Washington (and maybe other donors as well) on elections. They said the EC would likely focus on health as one success story. From an EC standpoint, education is another area of relative success where the United States has played an important role. Conversely, "challenges" from an EC perspective innclude border issues, revenue generation, and policing. Campbell added that successes should be viewed and presented as Afghan successes, not simply attributed to donor interventions. ¶4. (C) Campbell told us that the idea of including as pledges all money committed since the 2006 London conference would be useful for the Commission because it would mean they could count their four-year 610 million EUR pledge, as well as 33 million EUR in humanitarian assistance committed last year. Altogether, Campbell said, the total EC pledge amount could reach about one billion U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate. At the same time, Campbell and Turner stressed that they and a number of member states were concerned that the "adding up of every penny" not take over the focus of the Paris conference. They said that when the new UNSR for Afghanistan Kai Eide briefed the EU Political and Security Committee ambassadors, he stressed that he wanted to see greater pledging effectiveness and coordination. He also noted that he wanted President Karzai to come to Paris with commitments of his own. According to Campbell and some of USEU's member state contacts, the majority of the EU seems to agree strongly with this approach. They also want to see Kai Eide have a strong role at the conference, noting his "quiet Norwegian style" can be very effective with Europeans. ¶5. (C) Comment: While the EC understands the importance of funding commitments in the lead-up to Paris, there is also a clear sense that the core issues are only partially about money. From their standpoint, aid effectiveness and the responsibility of the Afghans are also vital concerns. In their view, the London conference placed too much emphasis on pledges and "ribbon cutting." In contrast, Paris should be centered on more substantive concerns. Going into the BRUSSELS 00000640 003 OF 003 conference, the EC also sees a need for consensus on issues and approaches among all the major donors. Member state permanent representation contacts in Brussels note with optimism the very fact that the EU itself intends to go into the Paris conference with a "common approach". Building on this, EC counterparts noted to us that they can emphasize areas of agreement between the EU and the US in their own ongoing dialogue with member states, further helping to advance a "larger" common approach. End Comment. MURRAY .