FRANCE OFFERS VIEWS ON FAO, UNESCO, UNDP, IAEA AND WIPO

UNCLAS PARIS 000674 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR IO, EUR/WE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL FAO UNESCO UNDP IAEA WIPO FR SUBJECT: FRANCE OFFERS VIEWS ON FAO, UNESCO, UNDP, IAEA AND WIPO -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) IO DAS Gerry Anderson met with MFA Deputy Director for United Nations and International Organization Affairs Marc Giacomini and several staffers April 10 for a tour d'horizon of a number of current IO issues, including financing, reform and upcoming elections at FAO, UNESCO, UNDP, IAEA and WIPO. -------------- WFP/FAO -------------- ¶2. (SBU) France recognized that rising food prices have reached a "boiling point", and Giacomini was curious if biofuels subsidies in the U.S. might be aggravating the problem. Even though the EU's financing system was not particularly flexible, France would largely depend on it for its contribution to the WFP's special appeal. France did not have the money to fund more than a "symbolic" effort of its own. On FAO budget and reform issues, France largely shared U.S. goals, but was concerned that freezing the budget in 2008 as spur to institutional reform after the large increase in 2007 might leave funding of the Immediate Action Plan short. It did not think that current EU Commission discussions about bridging gaps through project-based financing were fully formulated or had much chance of working. -------------- UNESCO -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On reports that President Sarkozy had promised to support an Egyptian candidate for Director General-which Giacomini neither confirmed nor denied-he said France had been "sensitized" to concerns about the candidate's views by the U.S. and Israel, and had communicated these to the Sarkozy administration. France agreed that the resolution introduced by the Cubans (item 48) was objectionable, and believed it would need extensive amendment to be acceptable. -------------- UNDP -------------- ¶4. (SBU) DAS Anderson explained U.S. concerns about the need for better accountability though access to internal audits in order to meet Congressional mandates, as well as the potential loss of 20 million dollars in funding if a solution could not be found. The French said they did not approach this as an "ideological" issue, but had concerns that multiple layers of audit and accountability requirements could become a management challenge, and create the potential for unauthorized disclosure if internal audits were shared more widely. -------------- IAEA -------------- ¶5. (SBU) France has not announced support for a candidate to succeed El Baradei, and had received no indication that he planned to run again. Amano from Japan was good on non-proliferation, and came from a country that was an important player in civilian nuclear energy. France was concerned however that India and the NAM would be looking to support a developing country candidate. Perhaps someone from Latin America could be identified who would fit the bill? -------------- WIPO -------------- ¶6. (SBU) France agreed broadly with the U.S. view that reform was needed, but saw this largely as due to "circumstantial" issues that would be relatively easy to fix. There were many good candidates and the French were preparing for several possible rounds of voting. They believed that the G77 would favor a developing world candidate, and agreed with the U.S. that the challenge would be finding someone who was committed to protection of intellectual property. The Mexican candidate could present an interesting option in this case, as he would probably be considered acceptable by the South. ¶7. (U) This cable was cleared by DAS Anderson. STAPLETON