US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE1800

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001800 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
IO FOR LAGON, IO/UNP - WEINBERG; DRL FOR KOZAK; USUN FOR 
SIV, TAMLYN, SPIRNAK, KENNEDY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, PHUM, AORC, NL, UNGA, UN 
SUBJECT: UNGA 59: SHUNNING SOUNDBITES, EU TARGETS PRACTICAL 
PRIORITIES 
 
REF: TRAUB FAX TO USUN AND IO/UNP OF 7/16/04 
 
1.  (U) SUMMARY: The EU's priorities paper for the UN (ref a) 
contains practical ideas to fix the UN system.  Written in UN 
jargon, it is not intending to appeal to the general public, 
Karel van Kesteren, Director of UN affairs at the MFA, told 
Poloff on July 14.  Five of the seven points (faxed to IO/UNP 
and USUN on July 16) cover UN reform:  prep for the "2005 
Major Plenary"; "UNGA Revitalization"; "Triennial 
Comprehensive Policy Review of UN Development Activities"; 
"Capital Master Plan"; and, Reform of the Budgetary 
Process."  Of the other two, Disarmament and 
Non-proliferation" is focuses on practical steps to enhance 
security.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (C) Van Kesteren said the EU discarded their traditional 
catchall paper this year since in the past it had always 
turned out to be an over-long product of consensus drafting. 
The goals for this year's paper were succinctness and focus, 
following the U.S. and Chinese models, he said.  He compared 
the EU's effort to list practical actions to the USG's 
promotion of legitimate, albeit more political, goals with 
catchy titles (ref b discusses his reaction to our UNGA 
priorities paper). 
 
EU PRIORITIES 
 
3.  (SBU) 2005 Major Event - Staging a "Quantum Leap" 
 
The UN needs to make a "quantum leap" to remain viable and 
relevant, van Kesteren asserted.  The EU wants to lead 
efforts this year to prepare for next year's high level 
plenary to review the SYG's reform paper.  Central to EU 
plans for UNGA 59 is a review of the progress made toward the 
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 
 
4.  (SBU) General Assembly Revitalization: "Cut all the junk" 
and Engage Ministers in Developing World Capitals 
 
Van Kesteren used colorful language to describe the UN agenda 
and the EU's determination to purge "relics from the '60's" 
with "no relevance today even in the most strident of 
developing countries."  Next year's plenary creates a good 
opening. 
 
5.  (SBU) Van Kesteren insisted that interested developed 
countries and groups must work harder in the capitals of 
developing countries, at the highest level, to bring about 
successful UNGA reform.  He named Egypt, Nigeria, India, and 
Pakistan as countries in which appreciation for modern 
economic and governance policies by governments at home had 
not translated into more productive positions in New York. 
The various reasons -- communications, coordination, focus, 
incentive --  should be surmountable.  He said the USG would 
have to help with the effort since we "have the diplomatic 
resources in the field" compared to the EU, which still 
depends on individual member states. 
 
6. (SBU) Disarmament and non-proliferation 
 
The EU aims to make the work of the First Committee more 
relevant.  They will also look for opportunities to promote 
resolutions on WMD, although van Kesteren did not suggest the 
EU had a draft ready to share on any particular subject. 
 
7.  (SBU) Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review of UN 
Development Activities and Operations 
 
Van Kesteren pointed to this mouthful as "proof the EU is not 
trying to catch the eye" of the man or woman on the street 
with its paper.  The goal of this item is to advance 
coordination, simplification and harmonization of the arcane 
range of UN development activities both in headquarters and 
especially in the field, to make donors' monies go further. 
 
8.  (SBU) Capital Master Plan - Special Terms through a 
Repayment Facility 
 
The EU still hopes the USG will sweeten the financing of the 
CMP, acknowledging that the interest-free loan idea had 
foundered on legitimate USG budgetary rules.  Van Kesteren 
pitched an idea he said he had already shared with USUN, 
involving setting up a special repayment facility for the CMP 
loan. 
 
9.  (SBU) Member States would pay into the fund of the 
repayment facility according to the old UN scale of 
assessment without taking any special adjustments.  Under 
this scheme, he figured the USG would pay about 31 percent, 
not too high considering the special responsibilities of the 
host country.  He suggested the economic benefit of building 
in New York would offset this higher amount.  He asked for 
the USG reaction to this idea. 
 
10.  (SBU) Reform of the Budgetary Process 
 
The EU seeks to "build on Resolution 58/271, which aims to 
equip the UN better to meet the MDGs."  A special focus would 
be on staff recruitment and deployment of posts. 
 
11.  (SBU) Security and Safety of the UN 
 
The UN has learned that it is "not above the law of the 
jungle" as far as terrorism is concerned.  Citing the attacks 
in Iraq, Van Kesteren said it is imperative that the UN 
Member States provide the means and foster the will inside 
the UN to protect UN personnel, both at Headquarters and in 
the field. 
 
COMMENT 
 
12.  (SBU) The EU's short list of UNGA goals represents the 
nexus of EU consensus and realism as to what the Members 
believe they can reasonably achieve at UNGA 59.  This 
represents the start of a two year process culminating in the 
UNGA 60 plenary dedicated to reform.  The EU's new mantra, 
"Effective Multilateralism," is missing here, perhaps because 
the drafters to wanted to avoid "sound bite drafting." It may 
still represent the unspoken aim of their chosen tasks for 
UNGA 59, even if their immediate concerns appear fairly down 
in the weeds. 
RUSSEL