US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS1907

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BRUSSELS 001907 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/ERA, CA AND S/CT; DOJ FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION 
BRUCE SWARTZ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CA, EAIR, ECON, PTER, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: INAUGURAL SESSION OF THE U.S.-EU POLICY DIALOGUE 
ON BORDER AND TRANSPORT SECURITY 
 
REF: BRUSSELS 01749 
 
 1. Summary.  The inaugural meeting of the new Policy 
Dialogue on Border and Transport Security April 26 addressed 
biometrics, the US-VISIT and Visa Waiver Programs, the joint 
initiative on lost and stolen passports, "flights of concern" 
and air marshals.  Newly appointed Counter-terrorism 
coordinator De Vries reviewed the March 25 Council 
Declaration on Combating Terrorism, and the Irish Presidency 
undertook to produce a first draft of a US-EU CT Statement 
for the June Summit.  The group agreed to meet once per EU 
presidency and also on an ad hoc basis if circumstances 
warrant.  The wide-ranging joint press briefing received wide 
and positive media attention.  End Summary. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
2. Comment: The U.S. objective for this new group was to 
establish a forum where the issues of transport and border 
security could be addressed at a policy level.  Current JHA 
discussions address these issues in an unsatisfactory way. 
The inaugural meeting successfully discussed a wide range of 
issues without getting "down in the weeds".  Working-level 
experts from the Directorates of Transport, Markets, Justice 
and Home Affairs (JHA) and External Relations were present, 
demonstrating an EU effort to avoid "stove-piping" its 
handling of these issues.  The principals on both sides 
promised to use this new mechanism to alert each other to 
problems or initiatives on the horizon, such as CAPPS II. 
The robust USG participation in this first meeting signaled 
to the EU that we take this new high-level dialogue seriously 
and want it to succeed.  To reinforce this message, we 
suggest the next meeting be held in Washington during the 
Dutch Presidency.  End comment. 
 
Press Coverage 
-------------- 
 
3.  The media replayed the positive messages from the joint 
press briefing by U/S  Hutchinson and Faull.  Two contentious 
issues -- the sharing of air passenger data with third 
countries and sky marshals on European flights of concern -- 
were widely portrayed as resolved.  The press gave prominent 
attention to Hutchinson's public flexibility on sky marshals, 
citing his comment that "we will not make the demand when 
that is not workable in an EU state" and "alternative 
security measures" were available.  The press briefing made a 
strong visual statement on US-EU transport and border 
security cooperation to the 50 media reps in attendance. 
 
EU Council Declaration on CT 
---------------------------- 
 
4.  EU Co-chair JHA Director General Jonathan Faull noted 
that the March 25 Council Declaration on Combating Terrorism, 
issued following the Madrid bombings, described a wide range 
of activities within the EU, and demonstrated that the 
purpose of the EU in the fight against terrorism has been 
reinforced at all levels.  The Declaration signaled the unity 
of the EU in this important area.  Newly-named EU 
Counter-terrorism Coordinator De Vries said this new dialogue 
was assisting the Union in pushing implementation of the 
Declaration's initiatives and programs both at the national 
level and externally with third countries.  U/S Hutchinson 
responded that the U.S. wants to enhance its cooperation with 
the EU in all areas, and that this new policy forum can play 
a useful role in this effort.  He thanked the EU for 
concluding the U.S.-EU Agreement on Passenger Name Records 
(PNR) and the recently-signed agreement on Container Security 
(CSI). 
 
EU-US Summit Statement on Combating Terrorism 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
5.  EUR PDAS Ries reported that a recent White House Summit 
planning meeting was impressed with the Council Declaration, 
commended its "holistic" approach to the issue, and noted it 
contained much substance for both current and potential 
cooperation.  He said we were working on an outline for a 
possible statement for the June Summit keyed to the Strategic 
Objectives listed in the Declaration Annex and hoped to have 
an outline ready to discuss at the May 6 Task Force meeting. 
Paul Hickey of the Irish Justice Department said the 
Presidency was working on its own draft statement for 
discussion at the May 6 Task Force meeting. 
 
Data Protection 
--------------- 
 
6.  Faull announced that JHA is working on a set of data 
protection rules for law enforcement and security purposes 
which will hopefully be ready in June and proposed to the 
Council in the June/July timeframe.  The new Parliament will 
have to decide whether the proposal is satisfactory.  He 
hopes the document will be finalized by the end of the year. 
Asked whether the current drafting process is open for 
discussion, Faull responded that JHA would welcome our views 
when the document is presented to the Council and made public. 
Biometrics 
---------- 
 
7.  Both sides agreed on the need to overcome technical and 
legal issues which affect incorporating biometrics in travel 
documents.  Faull said that if the political process went as 
expected, measures would be in place by the end of 2005 to 
begin issuing biometric passports.  The EU will add digitized 
images in visas by 2006 and fingerprints in visas by 2007. 
Faull noted there is still public relations work ahead to 
inform EU citizens what biometrics are, why they are 
necessary, and how they will be used by authorities.  U/S 
Hutchinson welcomed the EU's decision on fingerprints and 
said that DHS is working hard to ensure that the expansion of 
US-VISIT to include VWP travelers 
does not delay procedures at points-of-entry. 
 
Visa Waiver Program (VWP) 
------------------------- 
 
8.  Faull urged the U.S. "to think again about ways to treat 
all EU countries the same way in the foreseeable future."  He 
acknowledged Washington-based difficulties by noting that an 
expansion of the VWP list was not expected to take place 
immediately nor that all ten needed to gain status 
simultaneously.  Faull said that the EU's own certification 
process regarding Schengen border standards would be done on 
a country-by-country basis.  U/S Hutchinson said that the 
U.S. would soon begin conducting reviews of current VWP 
members and would be interested in seeing the results of the 
relevant countries' Schengen certification.  He said the U.S. 
was also considering other ways to facilitate international 
travel.  DAS Jacobs stated the U.S. was aware of the enormous 
interest in expanding VWP and noted that the requirements 
were set in legislation.  (Note: In a separate briefing to 
JHA officials she described the requirements and process for 
adding new countries to VWP.  End note.) 
 
US-EU Initiative on Lost and Stolen Passports 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
9.  Faull welcomed the U.S. decision to work through Interpol 
on sharing lost/stolen passport data.  He said that the April 
29 JHA Council invited the Commission to make a formal 
proposal.  Hutchinson noted that prompt reporting on lost and 
stolen passports was an important criterion for VWP status. 
 
Visa Data Exchange 
------------------ 
 
10.  DAS Jacobs mentioned that State is developing a pilot 
exchange on lookout information and said that the U.S. would 
submit a written proposal to the EU within a month.  (Note: 
This could be formally presented during Commissioner 
Vitorino's May visit to Washington.  End Note.) 
 
Flights of Concern/Armed Law Enforcement Officers 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
11.  U/S Hutchinson noted that the U.S. learned a great deal 
in December and January from the emergency measures it had to 
implement on certain flights from the UK and France.  The 
U.S. worked bilaterally with the member state governments to 
work through the emergency.  Some flights had to be 
cancelled.  The U.S. now seeks to work with carriers. 
Intelligence on threats to aviation might include specific 
flights and times, but the U.S. also received credible 
threats without reference to a time.  In one instance, the 
threat against a particular flight extended over two months, 
making cancellation of that particular flight impossible. 
There are a number of measures, short of cancellation, that 
can be taken to mitigate the threat on a flight of concern. 
U/S Hutchinson saw the assignment of armed law enforcement 
officers to flights of concern as a particularly helpful 
deterrent to air terrorism but respected the alternative 
views of some in Europe and did not wish to dictate a 
response.  In light of the reservations expressed by some 
foreign governments, the U.S. hoped for international 
standards on addressing flights of concern.  DHS was willing 
to work with Europe on measures that could be put into place 
in lieu of posting law enforcement officers on flights.  The 
topic would benefit from international discussion to develop 
a security approach that includes alternatives. 
 
12.  Hickey noted that member states were interested in a 
coordinated response in the area, and had planned to address 
the question in ICAO where members would discuss the issue in 
May.  The Commission was looking at the scope of the proposed 
guidelines.  Commission Head of Unit for Transport Security 
Eckard Seebohm welcomed Hutchinson,s willingness to reach an 
international consensus and look at alternatives to posting 
marshals.  A few member states had reservations about air 
marshals, but cancellation of a flight should be seen as a 
last resort.  Hutchinson added that without International 
protocols, states would likely disagree on measures to be 
taken.  He added that the December and January delays were 
due in large part to the need to vet passenger manifest 
lists, underscoring the importance of advanced passenger data 
systems.  PNR will provide a new tool to better manage 
aviation security.  Hickey suggested the U.S. and EU wait to 
see what decisions are taken in the ICAO context. 
 
Rail Security 
------------- 
 
13.  U/S Hutchinson noted that EU nations were already 
working to secure rail travel.  In the U.S., rail and 
specifically mass transit security is often categorized as a 
local government issue, but the Department of Homeland 
Security has taken a number of steps to secure the sector. 
It was looking at screening methods for rail passengers that 
would necessarily differ from the current aviation model.  It 
was also developing explosive detection technology applicable 
to rail.  In the policy arena, DHS would develop a federal 
baseline for aviation security so that when threats appear, a 
datum line exists to build upon.  U/S Hutchinson said that 
the U.S. would be interested in technical exchanges with the 
EU based on the EU's experience.  Seebohm noted that a 
technical subgroup of the U.S.-EU Transportation Security 
Coordination Group (TSCG) between DG TREN and the TSA could 
address the mass transit/rail issue.  Hutchinson agreed that 
this forum was the appropriate venue for discussion. 
 
PNR 
--- 
 
14.  Commission PNR negotiator Susan Binns said that while 
much of the work on the PNR  "adequacy finding" and 
"international agreement" was complete, the Commission would 
follow up on Secretary Ridge,s letter on PNR data transfers 
to third countries.  She added that while the Commission and 
Council had decided to approve the adequacy finding and 
international agreement despite the Parliament,s request to 
the Court of Justice, the Commission would welcome a cautious 
approach by the U.S. in its public statements on the matter 
as there were still some minor matters that had to be 
attended to. 
CAPPS II 
-------- 
 
15.  U/S Hutchinson said that DHS would not move forward on 
the CAPPS II system without thorough testing, and it could 
not successfully test without access to a significant volume 
of data.  DHS was currently working to secure such data. 
 
Participants and Future Work of the Dialogue 
-------------------------------------------- 
16.  DHS U/S Asa Hutchinson, DOJ Deputy A/AG Bruce Swartz and 
EUR PDAS Charlie Ries launched the new US-EU Policy Dialogue 
on Border and Transport Security on April 26.  They were 
joined by DHS Director of Cargo and Trade Policy Elaine 
Dezenski, S/CT Deputy William Pope and CA/VO DAS Janice 
Jacobs,  The EU was represented by Justice and Home Affairs 
(JHA) DG Jonathan Faull, External Relations Deputy DG 
Fernando Valenzuela, newly-named EU Counter-Terrorism 
Coordinator Gijsbert De Vries, Paul Hickey of the Irish 
Justice Department, and Council Secretariat JHA Director 
Gilles de Kerchove.  The two sides agreed to meet once per EU 
presidency and also on an ad hoc basis as circumstances 
warrant.  They also agreed that this new group would be 
flexible in its composition and scope, and not duplicate any 
existing group in the New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA). 
FOSTER