US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS728

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000728 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/ERA, IO/UNP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/20/2014 
TAGS: PREL, EAID, UNGA, UN, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: KOFI ANNAN AND THE EU: MULTILATERALISM, MONEY AND 
MIGRATION 
 
REF: A. A) USEU TODAY 1/30/04 
 
     B. B) STATE 15070 
     C. C) BRUSSELS 14 
     D. D) USMISSION USUN 79 
     E. E) 03 BRUSSELS 5126 
     F. F) 03 BRUSSELS 4424 
 
Classified By: USEU POLOFF TODD HUIZINGA, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) 
 
1. (SBU) SUMMARY: UNSYG Kofi Annan used his January 28-30 
visit to Brussels to lecture the EU in public on the need to 
have more open migration policies, while holding private 
talks on a range of world hotspots.  The EU showcased its 
commitment to a policy of "effective multilateralism" 
centered around the UN.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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ANNAN TO EU: WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW? 
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2. (C) Our interlocutor in the UN Affairs Office of the 
Commission's External Relations Directorate-General told us 
that Annan's meeting with the European Commissioners was 
largely a tour d'horizon of Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Middle 
East peace process, and Cyprus.  Annan asked for a greater EU 
contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis 
and Malaria (GFATM).  He also said the EU should play a 
leading role in the Global Commission on Migration.  Annan 
welcomed the EU commitment to multilateralism as expressed in 
the recently approved Commission White Paper on the UN (refs 
E-F), and thanked the Commission for its desire to support 
the High-Level Panel on UN Reform.  All in all, though, our 
source said Annan was more interested in what the EU could do 
for the UN here and now than in the EU's more ambitious, 
long-range ideas on "effective multilateralism." 
 
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ANNAN SPEECH CRITICIZES EU MIGRATION POLICIES 
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3. (U) On January 29, Annan received the European 
Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, in 
special honor of the UN officials who died in Iraq.  To the 
surprise of a nearly full chamber of MEPs, Annan's address 
focused on Europe's need to manage immigration better.  While 
praising Europe in the speech's introduction for pursuing 
"the path of peace through multilateralism," Annan did not 
mince words on the need to integrate immigrants while 
accepting their diverse backgrounds: "Migrants need Europe. 
But Europe also needs migrants.  A closed Europe would be a 
meaner, poorer, weaker, older Europe." 
 
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EU OFFICIALS: UN GLOBAL APPLICATION OF EU MODEL 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
4. (U) Annan's discussion of migration notwithstanding, EU 
officials used the award to promote the EU's "effective 
multilateralism" strategy.  EC Ambassador to the UN John 
Richardson argued at a roundtable discussion that a 
strengthened UN would follow the example of the EU: "EU and 
UN goals are congruent -- peace, stability and prosperity 
throughout the world....For the EU, the UN is the global 
application of what the EU believes in internally: collective 
action through international institutions."  Richardson added 
that the EC's current UN observer status would become 
insufficient if the final EU constitutional treaty gave the 
EU legal personality and established the post of EU Foreign 
Minister. 
 
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UN AT CENTER OF SOLANA SECURITY STRATEGY 
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5. (SBU) At the same event, Jim Cloos, EU HighRep Javier 
Solana's Director for Transatlantic Relations, UN Affairs and 
Human Rights, emphasized that the essence of Javier Solana's 
European Security Strategy (ESS) (ref C) was effective 
multilateralism.  He said 21st century security challenges 
could be met only by the "international community with the UN 
at its center." 
 
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EU'S EFFECTIVE MULTILATERALISM GATHERS STEAM 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) Coming at a time that coincided with the Commission 
White Paper on the EU in the UN, the EP report on the same 
topic, and EU leaders' endorsement of both the ESS and the 
Commission paper, the visit has built considerable momentum 
for the latest Brussels catchphrase, "effective 
multilateralism."  The EU institutions are working on keeping 
the momentum going:  the Commission has started regular 
dialogues between regional Commission and UN desk officers to 
increase working-level cooperation, for example, and the EU 
has invited Deputy UNSYG Louise Frechette to Brussels in 
March to discuss operational follow-up to Annan's visit. 
 
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COMMENT: EU COMMITTED TO UN-BASED APPROACH 
------------------------------------------ 
 
7. (C) Annan's visit underlined yet again the strong 
commitment of EU elites to a UN-centric approach to world 
affairs.  This commitment will clash from time to time with 
U.S. interests, especially since some in the EU see the U.S. 
as standing for the opposite paradigm of "unilateralism."  We 
continue to tell our EU interlocutors that the US is equally 
committed to effective multilateralism, but that we prefer to 
put the emphasis on effectiveness, and must be prepared to 
act in the protection of US national interests with 
like-minded partners in the absence of multilateral 
consensus.  END COMMENT. 
 
SCHNABEL