US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS1256

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001256 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2014 
TAGS: PREL, EAID, XF, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: EU STAKES OUT "COMPLEMENTARY BUT DISTINCT" 
APPROACH TO GME 
 
Classified By: Political M/C Kyle Scott.  Reason: 1.4 (B)(D) 
 
1. (C) Summary.  At its March 22 Foreign Ministers' meeting, 
the EU welcomed a report outlining a comprehensive European 
approach to the Middle East.  Dubbed "EU Strategic 
Partnership with the Mediterranean and the Middle East," the 
paper supports the basic ideas underpinning the U.S. reform 
agenda for the Greater Middle East (GME), but seeks to define 
a complementary but distinct approach for Europe.  The 
Europeans will be shopping their ideas around the Middle East 
over the coming months, but this week's endorsement of the 
Irish Presidency's interim report indicates we have the EU on 
board on GME as long as they can maintain an independent 
profile.  End Summary. 
 
Vibrant Debate in Brussels Culminates in Irish Strategy Paper 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
2. (U) At this week's EU FM meeting, the EU welcomed an 
interim report prepared by the Irish Presidency on a European 
strategy toward the Middle East.  The report was mandated in 
December 2003, and was the result of intensive consultations 
in Brussels over the past two months.  U/S Grossman's 
discussions with Hirep Javier Solana and PSC Ambassadors 
stimulated a vibrant debate inside the EU on how it should 
proceed.  Sixteen papers were submitted by EU member states, 
the Council, and Commission and used as input in producing 
the final draft submitted by the Irish. 
 
3. (U) The Irish paper attempts to lay out the core elements 
of a European strategy toward the Middle East.  The 
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP - commonly called the 
Barcelona Process) remains the cornerstone of EU policy.  The 
EU is the dominant trade partner in the region, but also a 
significant donor: it contributes nearly one billion euros 
each year to EU development assistance activities in the 
Barcelona countries, and the European Investment Bank offers 
financing worth another two billion euros annually.  The 
Irish paper puts great stress on this "partnership," 
emphasizing that any efforts to reach out to the countries of 
the Middle East must offer them a sense of "ownership." 
 
4.  (U) The EU also seeks to bind its policy in the region 
firmly to its commitment to remain fully engaged in seeking 
resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.  The EU FM's noted 
that "progress on the resolution of the Middle East conflict 
cannot be a pre-condition for confronting the urgent reform 
challenges facing the countries of the region, nor vice 
versa.  But it is clear that it will not be possible to build 
a common zone of peace, prosperity and progress unless a just 
and lasting settlement of the conflict is in place.  The lack 
of clear prospects for peace is already making it harder for 
reformers in the region to succeed." 
 
EU Objectives and Principles: The Eleven Points 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
5.  (U) The Irish text outlines eleven key objectives and 
principles for EU policy in the region, as follows: 
 
1) Promote the development of a common zone of peace, 
prosperity and progress; 
2) Geographic scope: primarily North Africa and the Middle 
East; 
3) Resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict will be a 
strategic priority; 
4) Partnership requires long-term and sustained engagement; 
5) The EU should strengthen its political dialogue with the 
region; 
6) The EU should use its dialogue with countries of the 
region to promote human rights and the rule of law; 
7) The EU should promote action and cooperation on terrorism, 
WMD and non-proliferation; 
8) The EU will support internally driven reforms in the 
economic, political and social spheres, noting in particular 
the UNDP Human Development Report emphasis on education, good 
governance and women's empowerment; 
9) The EU will seek an "enhanced security dialogue" (not 
further explained); 
10) The EU will support modernization of the regulatory 
environment in the region to promote WTO membership; and 
11) The EU will work closely with the US, the UN and other 
external actors in pursuit of these goals. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6. (C) In presenting its "Eleven Points," the EU has covered 
much of the same ground that underpins the President's 
Forward Strategy for Freedom, and is clearly on track to 
support the ideas in our GME initiative.  The challenge will 
be keeping them there in the coming months.  The next steps 
for the EU are to begin a series of consultations with 
countries in the Middle East on their "Strategic Partnership" 
ideas, so that a final concept document can be adopted by the 
EU at their June Council session (June 17-18).  That meeting, 
falling as it does between the G-8 and the US/EU summits, 
will be an opportunity to highlight the "complementary but 
distinct approach" of the EU.  Already, however, we are 
hearing concerns from the Council and Commission that events 
in Gaza may divert the Arab League summit and ruin chances 
for a unified appeal for reform in the region.  Without this 
or some other plausible "sense of ownership" for Middle East 
reform, the EU will be reluctant to step forward boldly. 
 
SCHNABEL