Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09USNATO494
2009-11-03 14:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Mission USNATO
Cable title:  

SECRETARY GENERAL'S THOUGHTS ON REFORM

Tags:  ABUD AFIN APER NATO PGOV PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHNO #0494/01 3071451
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FM USMISSION USNATO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3551
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000494 

NATO CONFIDENTIAL
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2019
TAGS: ABUD AFIN APER NATO PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: SECRETARY GENERAL'S THOUGHTS ON REFORM

Classified By: DCM John A. Heffern for reasons 1.4(B)&(D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L USNATO 000494

NATO CONFIDENTIAL
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/02/2019
TAGS: ABUD AFIN APER NATO PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: SECRETARY GENERAL'S THOUGHTS ON REFORM

Classified By: DCM John A. Heffern for reasons 1.4(B)&(D).


1. (NC) At the October 20 PermReps' lunch, Secretary General
Rasmussen drew from the following speaking notes on NATO
reform:

BEGIN TEXT

NATO REFORM

NATO cannot stand still. We must adapt to make sure we are in
the best possible shape to meet the challenges this Alliance
faces. We should be able to take decisions more quickly on
the basis of high-quality joint political-military advice.
We must be able to spot early on emerging security issues and
make sure we can tackle them. And in these difficult
economic times, we must always ensure that we are acting in
the most efficient manner possible.

In the past reform has often been addressed in large chunks,
with issues brought together into a package approach. There
is no intention to go down that path. When issues where
change is needed are identified, they will be addressed
swiftly with nations.

Some might argue that the starting point for further reform
should be the new Strategic Concept. And they have a point.
It will give us answers to big questions and point towards
other critical reform work. But the challenges we face now
are of such importance that we cannot wait. We need reform
now, and later.

Some specific issues:

There is a need for more joint working between the political
and military sides of the house. Joint working produces
higher-quality and faster products and should become our
default working mode.

To support more joint working, a close look at IS and IMS
collocation is warranted. Of course it is not a panacea, but
it can have very real benefits which we should not shy away
from exploring.

NATO works by committee. This will not change. But a rigorous
effort to make sure they are organised in the right way to
deliver the results we seek is necessary. Deputies are
engaged in a review of these committees. This will not be a
glamorous task, but it is critical work. They should take a
radical approach and thoroughly test whether certain

committees are still needed. It is necessary to spot
emerging policy issues early on.

Policy making should be supported by a strong intelligence
process. The Council deserves to have the best available
information before it, in a form we can actually use. The
present situation is sub-optimal. We have many people and
committees engaged in intelligence, but not in a coherent
manner. Intelligence reform therefore needs to be a priority.
And once we do identify emerging security problems, we must
not shy away from addressing them.

The need to take a close look at how climate change is going
to affect our security is an example. It is incredibly
difficult to predict today how it will affect us, but we
should start looking at the issue and taking action when we
can. As a beginning, work has been tasked to make this
Headquarters more "green". But that really is only the
beginning - we need to look at the issue from multiple
aspects.

What we address also needs to drive how we are organised.
This Headquarters cannot be static, but must adapt to the
requirements. The nations have already given the Secretary
General some flexibility to manage the staff more
effectively. Full advantage must be taken of this, to make
sure that resources do flow to priorities. But at some
point, larger organisational change may be necessary.

When looking at our myriad collection of partnerships - all
of them are valuable in their own right - would we not
benefit by adopting a more coherent approach? Have we ever
managed to really define what it is we want to get out of
these relationships? Once we know that, we will have a better
view on what we should offer our Partners. Discussion on this
should be started.

The need for efficiency in how we do our business is
important. Many countries around this table have suffered as
a result of the difficult economic circumstances. All the
more reason for us to ensure that we are acting as
efficiently as possible.

The work currently underway on a review of NATO Agencies has
great potential to deliver significant savings. It deserves
more high-level attention from the Council.

We should take a hard look at our Acquisition processes. They
should be amended to support the effective, efficient and
timely delivery of common funded capabilities to support
operations as well as addressing other urgent tasks. The
current processes are not well designed to do that. They need
to change.

In general, how we address capability development must always
be high on our agenda. Allied Command Transformation has an
important role to play in suggesting innovative approaches,
and General Abrial will be asked to come forward with
proposals. Not only on this issue, but also to better link
his Headquarters into the policy process.

The new NATO Headquarters is a significant investment. We all
want to get value for money from it. The Secretary General
has decided to set up a Transition Management team to ensure
that we are able to do just that, and to tackle the problems
that will undoubtedly arise as we gradually prepare for the
move.

Last of all, the new Human Resources Strategy will be
discussed in November. We need more rotation in A-grade
positions also below A6. But we are constrained by the fact
that 60 percent of A-grades are on indefinite contract. And
certainly the current budget does not allow us buy-offs.
Nations need to cooperate in ensuring that positions that are
identified for rotation can indeed be rotated. The gut
reaction is to "defend" a secondee or a fellow countryman
whose contract will not be extended. This should be avoided.
It undermines the very rotations that nations are asking the
Secretary General to ensure.

END TEXT


2. (C) In the discussion which followed, most PermReps were
supportive of the general thrust of the Secretary General's
remarks. Only the Spanish equivocated.


3. (C) Comment: NATO reform is clearly a top priority of
the new Secretary General, as it is for the Mission. We
expect a detailed action plan to follow. End comment.


HEFFERN