US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS1997

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001997 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, PINR, ECON, ETRD, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: EU/COUNTERTERRORISM: VITORINO AND DE VRIES: TIME 
TO STEP UP AND PERFORM 
 
 
Summary 
-------- 
 
1. (SBU) For the past two years, we have struggled with the 
EU bureaucracy on a range of counter-terrorism measures aimed 
at tightening border security, enhancing control of container 
traffic, improving travel document security, and 
strengthening law enforcement cooperation.  After the Madrid 
bombings, the EU is starting to get more serious about these 
concerns.  Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio 
Vitorino (cabinet minister equivalent) and newly-appointed 
Counter-Terrorism coordinator Gijs de Vries (S/CT counterpart 
with U/S equivalent rank) should be the point men in this 
effort, but neither have been as forceful as we believe is 
necessary if the EU is to move in the directions we would 
like.  Even as their discussions in Washington delve into the 
particulars, we should also underscore the overall policy 
message: we want to cooperate with the EU in preventing 
terrorism, not just reacting to it, and it is time for this 
duo to step up to the plate and perform.  End Summary 
 
EU Trying to Get Serious About Terrorism 
---------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) After 9/11, the EU adopted a series of policy 
measures aimed at tackling the threats posed by terrorism. 
Those decisions were welcome, but implementation bogged down 
in myriad internal regulations in the EU, where rules 
developed to regulate commerce and protect personal data were 
ill-equiped to address the terrorism menace.  At the level of 
member states, law enforcement and counter-terrorism 
cooperation was minimal and grudging.  Slowly, the EU has 
been trying to change this mindset.  The European Security 
Strategy adopted late last year identifies terrorism as one 
of the key threats to European society, and calls for 
measures to address it.  The Madrid bombings brought home to 
Europeans that the threats are real, and the need to respond 
urgent.  In March, the European Council reaffirmed many of 
its post-9/11 decisions, and called for implementation to be 
accelerated.  In our bilateral efforts with the EU, we have 
scored successes -- last July we agreed on a revolutionary 
new Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty -- but pinning down 
implementing agreements on a state-by-state basis has 
languished.  More recently, we reached agreement on sharing 
of Passenger Name Record data (over significant opposition 
from the European Parliament), signed a Container Security 
Initiative agreement, and the EU is moving ahead slowly in 
adopting new rules on terrorist financing and designating 
more organizations on their asset freeze list. 
 
3. (SBU) Still, at every step in the road, the EU has 
struggled with itself: the "mixed competency" area of Justice 
and Home Affairs has not been able to take the lead from the 
more developed "first pillar" bureaucracy that regulates 
trade and commerce in the EU, and member states continue to 
resist ceding national control over security and 
counter-terrorism in favor of better coordinated mechanisms 
on a Europe-wide basis.  That is why the Council also decided 
at its March session to appoint a "Terrorism Czar" to bring 
greater coherence and effectiveness to this effort. 
 
Vitorino and De Vrijs: 
Teammates or Competitors, Leaders or Something Else? 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
4. (SBU) The two point men in this effort are Vitorino and De 
Vries.  Unfortunately, neither has stepped forward boldly to 
drive European policy in this field.  Vitorino, a former 
Portuguese Defense Minister turned Eurocrat, is nurturing a 
dark horse candidacy to replace Romano Prodi as the next 
President of the Commission.  His is a long shot, as he does 
not come from the ruling party in Portugal, and has no other 
member state as a champion.  Still, he is treading carefully 
to ensure he can maintain broad support within EU circles. 
If he does not emerge as a compromise candidate, he will 
increasingly look like a lame duck, with his term in the 
Commission likely to end this November.  Vitorino allowed 
Commission colleagues overseeing internal market rules to 
take the lead in our difficult PNR discussions, and failed to 
confront member states on MLAT implementation or 
counter-terrorism coordination.  Directly beneath him, his 
Director General, Jonathan Faull, is an experienced 
bureaucrat, veteran of the several Commission directorates as 
well as a former spokesman for Prodi.  He is the power behind 
the throne on JHA matters, has been a key player in moving 
forward our agenda, and will be accompanying Vitorino in all 
his meetings.  If, as we suspect, Vitorino's days are 
numbered, we should not ignore Faull, who is likely to remain 
in place no matter what changes take place in the Commission. 
 
 
5. (SBU) De Vries is the new kid on the block.  He is just 
settling into his new position, but his first efforts have 
been extremely modest.  A retiring Dutchman with limited 
experience in counter-terrorism, he lacks stature or any real 
authority.  He has no staff to speak of, and appears to spend 
as much time fighting bureaucratic battles with the 
Commission (especially with Faull) over where the lead on 
counter-terrorism should be as he does in addressing the 
actual issues at play.  In fact, the current tandem visit by 
Vitorino and de Vrijs is itself the result of an uneasy 
patchwork of invitations and mutual recriminations between 
Council and Commission staffers.  De Vries failed to speak up 
when he had opportunities on PNR, and appears to be treading 
carefully with member states as well.  If the EU is to gain 
real traction here, these two elements will have to begin to 
see each other as teammates in a broader struggle, and also 
begin to take a bolder leadership stand within the EU 
bureaucracy and with member states to ensure that needed 
changes take place. 
 
Our Message: Time to Step Up to the Plate 
------------------------------------------ 
 
6. (SBU) Our message to the EU in Washington has both public 
and private elements.  The public message should be that the 
US welcomes the EU commitment to address terrorism, and we 
want to work closely with you.  In private, however, we 
should make clear the we have been frustrated with our 
efforts thus far, and believe the EU needs to begin putting 
greater emphasis on the practical measures needed to address 
the terrorist threat, and to give greater weight to law 
enforcement cooperation, intelligence-sharing, and practical 
measures to protect travel and commerce.  They need to hear 
we are interested in working with the EU, but also that we 
cannot allow EU institutional complexity to slow down 
measures we are convinced we need to take.  The high-level 
meetings accorded Vitorino and de Vries in Washington 
(Secretary Ridge, Attorney General Ashcroft, Deputy Secretary 
Armitage) are in themselves an indication of the hopes we are 
placing in improving our cooperation.  To succeed, however, 
we will be looking to Vitorino and de Vries to take a 
stronger leadership position to prove the EU's new 
seriousness of purpose.  If they leave Washington with a 
renewed commitment to lead, it will have been a very 
successful visit. 
 
FOSTER