THE NEW EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT STRONG ON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000975 NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/ERA E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2019 TAGS: EUN PGOV PREL KDEM MARR SUBJECT: THE NEW EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT STRONG ON TRANSATLANTIC TIES, BUT CONSERVATIVES CHALLENGE EU FEDERALISM AND DEFENSE REF: BRUSSELS 951 Classified By: Acting Political M-C Mary T. Curtin for reasons 1.4b/d ¶1. (SBU) Summary: According to our contacts, the European Parliament's (EP) new leaders will seek to strengthen relations with the United States during the new five-year term. Parliamentary leaders from the dominant center-right group hope for an early official U.S. visit and appear well disposed to engage with American counterparts. While we expect the EP to continue to actively support the development of an independent European defense capability, an interesting dynamic will be presented by the formation of the new euroskeptic conservative group, which advocates stronger relations with the United States and NATO while opposing European integration and further strengthening of European defense. As the EP would gain greater authority with the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, these new dynamics could have a greater impact on EU foreign policy. End Summary. EPP LEADERS DOMINATE FOREIGN POLICY AND DEFENSE ¶2. (SBU) An EU Council Secretariat official responsible for relations with the European Parliament (EP) on Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) matters told us on July 8 that then-candidate for EP President Jerzy Buzek (Poland) (who was elected July 14) has made it a priority to visit Washington early in his tenure. (Note: Buzek,s predecessor, Hans-Gert Pottering, was never received officially in Washington. End note.) Buzek plans to use the visit to invite the Secretary to address an EP plenary. We have heard separately from his office that Klaus Welle, the new Secretary General of the European Parliament, hopes to officially visit Washington during the week of September 21 himself. ¶3. (C) The new chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee will be Italy's Gabriele Albertini. Albertini has been a strong supporter of the United States, having served on the Delegation to the NATO Assembly and as a substitute on the Delegation to the United States. Additionally, both Albertini and Buzek belong to the centrist European People's Party (EPP) which is a strong supporter of a bigger European Union role in defense and security. The head of the EP Delegation to the United States will continue to be Elmar Brok, according to EP party staffers. Brok was previously chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and has a long and positive relationship with the U.S. Subcommittees are still being formed, but it appears likely that the Green Party will retain the chair of the Human Rights subcommittee while the EPP will keep the Security and Defense subcommittee. THE LISBON TREATY, EP AND FOREIGN POLICY ¶4. (SBU) The Lisbon Treaty states that the European Parliament's powers are limited in the area of Common Foreign and Security Policy. The EP currently possesses the power to pose questions to the Council and Commission on foreign policy matters and to request members of the Council or Commission to appear before it. These questions and the reports the EP publishes on foreign policy issues help shape the EU's agenda and actions. If the Lisbon Treaty is adopted, however, the Parliament will gain additional indirect authority over foreign policy. The most significant new realm of influence for the European Parliament would be the requirement that it vote approval of the nominee for the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. This new post would combine the roles of the High Representative for CFSP in the Council (currently filled by Javier Solana) with that of the Commissioner for External Relations (currently Benita Ferrero-Waldner). The European Parliament will need to approve the name submitted by the Council for this position for the person to assume their responsibilities (REFTEL). The High Representative would also be required to address questions raised by the Parliament and appear periodically to brief MEPs on European foreign policy. ¶5. (C) Under Lisbon, the Parliament will also gain greater budgetary control over EU foreign policy. Currently the Parliament can set a ceiling on the annual overall budget of the EU,s Common Foreign and Security Policy. With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, all CFSP operations without military or defense implications would be financed with explicit EP oversight. The Parliament is hoping to better BRUSSELS 00000975 002 OF 002 use its growing budgetary authority to exert effective parliamentary control on foreign policy. An EU Council Secretariat official told us that European Parliamentarians look increasingly to the U.S. Congress for lessons on how they might influence foreign and security policy through budgetary procedures. SOME EUROSKEPTICS BUT STILL PRO-U.S. ¶6. (SBU) A new group in the Parliament will contribute a more coherent opposition to the traditionally pro-integration voice of the body. The European Conservative and Reformist group (ECR) will have 55 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and is dominated by the British Conservatives, the Czech Civic Democratic Party, and the Polish Law and Justice Party. But in order to form a formal group in the parliament, the party has also enlisted five MEPs in five member states. These single-seat parties from Belgium, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands will have significant influence, as the defection of any two would bring the Group below the necessary threshold of member state representation to maintain a formal group. The main rallying point of the group is a strong opposition to a federalist Europe, including to European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) and Justice and Home Affairs. ¶7. (SBU) Geoffrey Van Orden, a retired UK Army Brigadier turned Conservative Party politician will play a prominent leadership role in the ECR, particularly on defense matters. In his published commentary and private discussions with U.S. officials, he has shared his concerns about the development of a federal Europe with its own defense and diplomatic tools. Van Orden fears that European defense causes EU member states -- including the UK -- to lose focus on NATO. He sees European defense advocates as more interested in using ESDP to further the political development of the European Union than in increasing Europe's military capability. The party will accordingly advocate a stronger focus on NATO and the United States in the upcoming Parliament. As the fifth largest group in the Parliament, however, the ECR Group will seek recourse in what Van Orden has privately described as an "unholy alliance" with the left wings parties to muddy the debate about further European integration. ¶8. (SBU) One area where the euroskeptic Europeans Conservatives and Reformists Group will also shape the future of EU defense policy and transatlantic defense relations is through its chairmanship of the influential Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Affairs. This committee oversees internal market dynamics including continuing efforts for intra-community arms transfer legislation and national weapons procurement processes. Malcolm Harbour, a British Conservative, is likely to receive the chairmanship, according to press reports. MURRAY .