FRENCH RESPONSE TO U.S. MTCR PLENARY PROPOSALS

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 001292 SIPDIS ISN/MTR FOR PDURHAM E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2019 TAGS: MTCRE ETTC KSCA PARM PREL FR SUBJECT: FRENCH RESPONSE TO U.S. MTCR PLENARY PROPOSALS REF: A. STATE 090236 ¶B. 9/21/2009 ISN/MTR EMAIL Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Kathy Allegrone, Reasons 1. 4(b),(d). ¶1. (C) French Missile Technology Control Regime Point of Contact (MTCR POC) Florent Aydalot responded on September 22 to the proposals contained in reftel, as follows: - Information Exchange and Technical Experts Meeting (IE-TEM) Working Group: Aydalot said he wondered whether introducing a new working group would not be increasing the complexity of the MTCR process for little gain. Although France is not necessarily opposed to the idea, Aydalot said he would be interested in hearing how other partners have responded to this proposal. - Developing a Paper on the Global Missile Threat for Use in Outreach Activities: Aydalot said France is in total agreement on the need for such a paper, adding that this sort of outreach is all the more important since it is currently difficult for potential new members to join the MTCR. -Round Table for Non-Partners: France places a great deal of importance on reaching out to non-partners, and has no specific objections to this proposal. However, Aydalot said the difference between a round table and the Technical Outreach Meetings was not clear. Regardless of which mechanism partners use for outreach to non-partners, the priority should be on ensuring that qualified national experts from non-partner nations attend the sessions, since currently most nations are represented by generalists from their embassies whose lack of expertise minimizes the value of the outreach. -Steps for Addressing Regional Nonproliferation: France agrees on the need to focus on regional proliferation threats, including mentioning Iran and North Korea in the MTCR Plenary press release. ¶2. (C) The GOF responses to specific sub-proposals on regional nonproliferation follow: --Updating and Adding the Watchlist on Iran: Aydalot said France agrees both with the need to update the Iran watchlist, and that Sweden, as EU chair, should make this recommendation. France is prepared to support this move within the EU. --Adopting a Similar Watchlist on North Korea: Aydalot said the GOF, with the Ministry of Defense as lead agency, has already been drafting a watchlist on North Korea. Aydalot said he had seen a draft, which was similar to the Iran watchlist, and added that he hoped it could be distributed appropriately by the beginning of October. --Distributing to All Partners An Updated List of Entities of Concern: France strongly supports updating this list, since the situation on the ground has changed considerably since the last list was distributed in 2005. Aydalot asked if the United States would be prepared to take on this task. --Using Bilateral Contacts to Discourage Missile Transactions with North Korea: France agrees that it is appropriate to use bilateral contacts with third countries to discourage missile or missile technology transfers to or from North Korea. Aydalot said it would be good to keep this proposal separate from the similar proposal (below) regarding Iran. --Using Bilateral Contacts to Discourage Missile Transactions with Iran: Aydalot welcomed this initiative and the U.S. offer to make the proposal. --Undertaking to Press China: Aydalot strongly agreed with the U.S. proposal, adding that France maintains its opposition to Chinese membership in the MTCR, saying China "is not ready yet." ¶3. (C) Additionally, Aydalot said France supports the idea of a Small Group meeting on the margins of the MTCR Plenary, and said that the French Consulate General in Rio may be a workable venue. However, he has not yet approached the Consulate General to address logistical questions and added that if Japan has a meeting place available, that may be a convenient option. RIVKIN