FRENCH OFFICIAL JOUYET BRIEFS NATO ON PLANS FOR EU

C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000253 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2018 TAGS: PREL MARR MOPS NATO EU SUBJECT: FRENCH OFFICIAL JOUYET BRIEFS NATO ON PLANS FOR EU PRESIDENCY Classified By: CDA RICHARD G. OLSON, JR. FOR REASONS 1.4(b) AND (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. French Secretary of State for European Affairs Jeanne-Pierre Jouyet briefed the NAC on July 16 on "Priorities Of the French EU Presidency," referring frequently to France's October 2007 non-paper on NATO/EU relations and the July 7 high-level seminar in Paris on the subject. Jouyet focused on strengthening European military capabilities, addressing the need for greater defense expenditures, rationalization and pooling of resources, and complementarity between NATO and the EU. Noting the urgency of the Kosovo and Afghanistan missions, Jouyet talked about finding "informal" and "practical" solutions, and he pushed back against the Greek PermRep who cautioned against moving beyond Berlin Plus. (Jouyet's as-prepared remarks e-mailed to EUR/RPM.) END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Jeanne-Pierre Jouyet, French Secretary of State for European Affairs, briefed the NAC July 16 on "Priorities Of the French EU Presidency." Referring frequently to the non-paper France distributed at NATO and the EU in October 2007 with proposals to strengthen NATO/EU relations, and to the July 7 "high-level seminar" organized by France in Paris with participation from NATO SecGen de Hoop Scheffer, EU HiRep Solana, and NATO and EU member states, Jouyet stated that during its EU presidency France will be "loyal to the vision of a political Europe that can act for its own security," and that Europe,s defense policy must be credible and commensurate with its economic policy. ¶3. (C) Discussing capabilities, Jouyet asserted that the current European defense effort is insufficient, and Europe can only be a "genuine strategic partner" to the US if it invests greater resources in defense. These, he said, are the conclusions of the recent French White Paper on defense reforms. Thus "Capabilities Enhancement" is a key goal of the French presidency. On ESDP, the first step is to conduct a renewed risk and threat assessment, and France will keep NATO informed as this proceeds. This will be linked to a focus on a few key tasks: Force protection, Space, Maritime, and Crisis Management. These ambitions will require greater European investments and pooling of resources. On the latter, the focus is on a strong European technology base, increased Research and Development spending, and a rationalization of European defense industries (using the French/UK helicopter initiative as an example). ¶4. (C) France will look to improve the GAERC Council of Ministers oversight role as well as the EU's military planning of operations -- not to compete with SHAPE, but to have an EU headquarters capability. This can be done within the current legal framework (i.e. in the absence of a ratified Lisbon Treaty),Jouyet asserted. ¶5. (C) Regarding the French role in NATO, the focus is on NATO's Strasbourg-Kehl Summit in April 2009 for reintegration, and Jouyet referred to Sarkozy's June 17 speech that linked France's reintegration with strengthening European defense capabilities. Jouyet reminded PermReps that for the past 15 years, France has participated in NATO operations, sharing risks and constraints. ¶6. (C) Jouyet stated that NATO/EU institutional relations must be strengthened. There is already complementarity, with 21 members common to the two organizations, and the Berlin Plus Agreement has proved useful in Macedonia and Bosnia, but now new situations have emerged in Kosovo and Afghanistan that require new solutions. In Afghanistan, Jouyet said institutional cooperation has been "fragmented," and that when the EU considers reinforcing EUPOL, it is important to strengthen cooperation with NATO. The current situation, he said, jeopardizes the mission and the personnel and cannot be justified back home. France is aware of the challenges to improving cooperation, but the credibility of both institutions is at stake, so it is important to "meet the concerns of Turkey and the non-EU states." ¶7. (C) Jouyet said that, procedurally, France seeks implementation of the proposals in its October 2007 non-paper, and hopes to "associate" non-EU members with ESDP. France will push to create a high-level commission chaired by de Hoop Scheffer and Solana, with parallel military and civilian working-level bodies. In the coming days, France will distribute proposals for how these bodies would operate. ¶8. (C) In their comments, PermReps uniformly welcomed Jouyet's remarks. Drawing from Washington guidance, US Charge Olson said the US supports French reintegration into NATO and its efforts to improve NATO/EU cooperation, noting the urgent need for this in Kosovo and Afghanistan. He also urged the EU to address legitimate concerns of non-EU partner nations (i.e. Turkey). Olson welcomed the attention to European capabilities and said he would like more detail on France's proposal to develop the EU's planning headquarters without additional personnel. Jouyet replied that France sees Afghanistan "holistically," where all organizations have a role and must fulfill their tasks. Jouyet did not answer the question on planning. ¶9. (C) The Belgian ambassador asked if France envisions that the review of the EU security strategy would be on a parallel track to a review of NATO's Strategic Concept. Jouyet noted that the December 2008 NATO Foreign Ministerial, in advance of the April 2009 NATO Summit, provides a good opportunity to take stock in both institutions, and he agreed that the strategies should be reviewed in parallel. ¶10. (C) The Greek ambassador said he saw no need to reopen Berlin Plus arrangements, noting that Berlin Plus includes all member states and that non-EU military members have benefits via the Nice agreement. Just as NATO and the UN cooperate without a written agreement, he commented, so can NATO and the EU. Jouyet replied that he understands the "integrity of the framework" but France approaches the issue with goodwill and practicality and will seek new solutions. ¶11. (C) The Turkish representative noted that the July 7 Paris seminar had mostly expressed views from the EU perspective. He commented that the two organizations are autonomous, so relations must be based on reciprocity, but some issues on the EU agenda prevent better cooperation. He said NATO has tried to tackle the issue of Comprehensive Approach, but success depends on each organization fulfilling its responsibilities. ESDP is important to Turkey, he said, as evidenced by Turkey's contributions to many of its missions. Jouyet replied that France wants to be pragmatic and to work from the October 2007 French non-paper. "We want to escape this frozen situation," he said, and find ways to move forward "with everybody, with everybody." ¶12. (C) Norway noted FM Kouchner's proposal in Paris for "informal mechanisms" of cooperation in cases where both the EU and NATO are participating in an operation, and suggested increased field level cooperation as well as NAC/PSC interaction on operations. Germany expressed desire to strengthen the civilian components of ESDP, noting that the EU missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan are civilian in nature. ¶13. (C) The UK ambassador welcomed the French emphasis on complementarity and avoiding duplication, noting that Europeans have only one set of capabilities available to the EU and NATO. However, a number of other EU Allies, including Italy, agreed that the discussion should move "beyond duplication and toward complementarity." Slovenia welcomed Jouyet's proposal for a high-level NATO-EU commission, and suggested including ACT in the mix. Similarly, Netherlands urged a focus on cooperation on capabilities (i.e. between EDA and ACT),and noted that Berlin Plus applies to cases where either NATO or the EU are in the field, whereas current operations involve both organizations together, hence France's proposal for a high-level commission could usefully address this issue. ¶14. (C) The Estonian ambassador asked if France would engage in bilateral diplomacy to try to resolve political irritants, but Jouyet responded that it would be better to resolve problems within the EU, to reflect solidarity rather than through bilateral talks with individual nations. Canada asked how to increase European contributions to Afghanistan, and Jouyet promised this would be on the EU agenda during the French presidency, and while France has increased its contributions, he would make no commitments for the EU as a whole. OLSON