FRENCH VIEWS ON THE NOVEMBER 10 EU GAERC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002056

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/07/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR EAID XA FR RS LE CG CH IZ BK
SUBJECT: FRENCH VIEWS ON THE NOVEMBER 10 EU GAERC

REF: STATE 115017

Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Young for reasons 1.4. (b),(
d).


1. (SBU) French MFA Deputy Chief for EU Common Foreign and
Security Policy Mathieu Carmona responded on November 7 to
reftel points on the upcoming EU GAERC. He began by
observing that this one would be the most complicated of the
current French presidency, since it would also involve a
joint meeting with defense ministers and a separate meeting
of development/cooperation ministers. According to Carmona,
the GAERC plans to issue statements without preceding
discussion on the following subjects:

--Lebanon: A reaffirmation of support for the Doha accord,
acknowledgment of the significance of the establishment of
diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon, and a note of
the necessity for Lebanese to pass necessary legislation for
parliamentary elections in early 2009.

--Burma: Per a UK desire, the GAERC will note that nothing
has been done to ease restrictions on the opposition, release
political prisoners, or make progress on essential reforms in
preparation for elections in 2010.

--Africa: Note that one year has passed since the EU Africa
summit in Lisbon and take stock of follow-up actions.

--China/Africa/EU: This statement is intended to draw
attention to the failure of China and Africa to live up to
commitments intended inter alia to ensure that Beijing's
relations with African states conformed to "responsible"
principles. Carmona described the EU's perception that China
has been largely disinterested in this effort while African
countries prefer to deal with China purely on a bilateral
bases and not within the framework of a broader understanding.

--Piracy: A general statement on the status of joint EU
counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa under the
rubric of ESDP.


2. (SBU) Turning to the GAERC subjects that should involve
fuller discussion, Carmona cited:

--Democratic Republic of the Congo: The ministers would
listen to a report by someone who attended the urgent meeting
in Nairobi and consider what the EU could usefully do.

--Civil defense: This discussion, which has been planned for
quite a while, will focus on crisis management.

--Iraq: The GAERC wants to underscore positive developments
in security and praise passage of the politically significant
law on local elections. Pursuant to French FM Kouchner's
insistence, the GAERC will prolong the JUSLEX mission to
provide judicial training and related support to Iraq's
criminal justice system. If security conditions continue to
improve, Carmona stated that this could include consideration
of programs to be undertaken as early as summer 2009 inside
Iraq instead of offshore, as is done currently. (Comment:
We passed along to Carmona that the European Commission might
want to reconsider current arrangements for its diplomatic
presence in Baghdad given the Iraqi government's intention to
reallocate space in its diplomatic quarter. Carmona took
note but stressed that this was an EC matter. End comment)


3. (C) The lunchtime discussion will focus on EU/Russia
relations, Carmona told us. The anticipated contentiousness
of this session had already prompted the presidency to decide
that there would be no formal written conclusions on this
subject after the GAERC. Instead, an extensive set of press
points will be drawn up outlining the different points of
view. When we pressed home Washington's concerns about the
resumption of negotiations on the EU/Russia partnership
accord, Carmona insisted that the EU presidency had already
decided to resume talks and was not subject to review or
change. The dissenting views "of one state" may prevent
consensus on most matters relating to the EU's relationship
with Russia, but not as it concerned restarting partnership

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discussions. Carmona was not sure, however, whether those
talks would resume or an announcement of their resumption
would be made at the conclusion of the EU/Russia summit on
November 14. He sought to place such considerations in the
category more of form than substance and stressed that France
and others in the EU intended to show firmness in the face of
Russia's evident hard line across the board. "We are reading
the press reports that the EU is giving in to Moscow,"
Carmona said. "This is not 'business as usual,' as is being
claimed, nor is it about Europeans caving in because of their
dependence on Russian gas and oil."


4. (SBU) Turning to the joint foreign/defense ministers
meeting, Carmona said they would seek to draw up a balance
sheet of ESDP successes and failures, with a particular focus
on counter-piracy. More pressing, he indicated, would be
discussion of Bosnia and the degradation of the political
situation as well as the failure of political leaders to
respond to previous EU messages about worrying trends. The
EU specifically wants to warn Bosnian leaders that current
provocations must cease and reforms undertaken if Bosnia
wants to pursue its bid for eventual EU membership. The
combination of foreign and defense ministers will further
allow for discussion of the EUFOR, which needs a new mandate
that will stem further loss of credibility. Carmona added
that the NATO SYG would join for discussion of Afghanistan
that would involve a review of all programs, including
"Afghanization" of the conflict.


5. (SBU) Development/cooperation ministers, Carmona briefly
noted, would discuss a meeting in Doha November 29 on
development financing in the hopes of developing a common EU
position as well as reviewing some outdated economic
association agreements that are not compatible with the WTO.

STAPLETON