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