US embassy cable - 05BRUSSELS638

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000638 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
ONDCP PASS CHARLOTTE SISSON; DEPARTMENT PASS INL/PC SCOTT 
HARRIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM, OTRA, SNAR, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR VISIT TO BRUSSELS OF ONDCP 
DIRECTOR WALTERS FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 1, 2005 
 
REF: ONDCP 4292 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary.  Your visit to Brussels comes at an 
important juncture in U.S.-EU relations.  The transatlantic 
dialogue has been given a dramatic boost from the recent 
visit of Secretary of State Rice.  Her meetings with the EU 
have laid the foundation for the upcoming visit of President 
Bush.  The prospects for your message receiving an open and 
fair hearing have been greatly enhanced.  We enjoy close 
counter-narcotics cooperation with the EU in third countries. 
 We share their concern with increasing heroin imports into 
the Union from Afghanistan, and have agreed to work together 
to stem the growing organized crime problem in the Balkans 
which thrives on drug smuggling.  Most importantly, our close 
cooperation in combating terrorism is increasingly motivated 
by our common concern about the rise of narco-terrorism.  A 
new parliament and commission took office last fall.  Initial 
indications are that EU institutions are willing to 
strengthen U.S.-EU cooperation, particularly in the area of 
Justice and Home Affairs, which includes drug policy and 
counter-narcotics efforts.  End summary. 
 
EU Drug Strategy 
----------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) In December 2004, the EU Council approved a new EU 
Drug Strategy for 2005-2012, providing a broad strategic 
framework for the new two four-year EU Action Plans on Drugs. 
 The new Strategy is not significantly different from the old 
one, and is more notable for what is lacks than any new 
initiatives.  It does not call for new institutions or any 
revisions to the existing UN Drug Conventions.  Some EU 
members have considered promoting UN Convention reform as a 
way for winning broader acceptance for "harm reduction" 
policies.  The Strategy contains a minor mention of harm 
reduction as a policy goal, but this is unavoidable in the EU 
context. 
 
3.  (U) In terms of external EU assistance, the Strategy does 
not prioritize any particular geographic region, outside of 
stating that "particular attention should be paid to 
cooperation with the countries on the Eastern border of the 
Union, the Balkan States, Afghanistan and its neighbors, the 
Latin American and Caribbean countries, Morocco, and other 
drug routes."  The Strategy calls for Member States facing a 
common problem to explore the option of intensified 
cooperation in order to address it."  In other words, 
"coalitions of the willing" may form to deal with particular 
regions of concern.  This has relevance to growing pressure 
from Congress to encourage greater EU technical assistance to 
Colombia and Afghanistan. 
 
U.S.-EU Dialogue on Drugs 
--------------------------- 
 
4.  (U) There are two main fora in which we discuss drug 
policy and cooperation with the EU.  The most important of 
these is the "Drug Troika" which is held once per EU 
presidency and which brings together drug policy officials 
from the presidency country, the Council Secretariat and the 
Commission.  The U.S. delegation to this meeting includes 
State/INL, DEA and ONDCP.  The next Drug Troika is scheduled 
for June in Washington.  The other meeting at which drug 
policy is discussed is the Informal Meeting on Justice and 
Home Affairs which is also held once per presidency and 
includes the same representation on the EU side.  However, 
the USDEL includes the Departments of Justice and Homeland 
Security in addition to State.  Two other fora where drug 
cooperation is discussed (but not exclusively with the EU) 
are the Dublin Group which meets twice per year, and the 
Paris Pact which examines the heroin routes from Afghanistan 
to Europe. 
 
5.  (U)  There remains disagreement within the EU Member 
States with regard to "harm reduction" (e.g., needle-exchange 
programs, drug consumption rooms).  Sweden, Italy and others 
are more closely aligned with the U.S. in their zero 
tolerance to drug use.  Other countries (The Netherlands, 
Germany, Portugal) favor a more liberalized approach.  The 
result tends to be a lack of commonality and focus at the EU 
level. 
 
6.  (U)  However, the EU is strengthening efforts to evaluate 
its drug situation and looking to harmonize reporting through 
the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction 
(EMCDDA) located in Lisbon.  The ONDCP has an informal 
relationship with the EMCDDA through its Office of Research 
and Evaluation to cooperate on monitoring and evaluation of 
drug strategies. 
 
7.  (U)  The EU also made significant strides last fall, 
breaking a deadlock and finalizing the framework decision on 
minimum penalties for drug trafficking.  This compromise was 
reached after more than two years of discussion.  The 
framework decision penalizes most trafficking offenses with a 
minimum of one year in prison.  The decision includes 
trafficking in all drugs (hard and soft, a distinction the 
U.S. does not draw) and precursors.  Trafficking includes 
cultivating, manufacturing, selling, transporting, possessing 
and purchasing (not including personal consumption as defined 
by national law).  The coming together of the 25 Member 
States to create the minimum sentence is a noteworthy 
accomplishment, the first significant harmonization effort in 
the criminal aspect of drug trafficking. 
 
8.  (U)  We routinely present the EU with our National Drug 
Control Strategy, have shared copies of it with them, and 
continue to remind them of its balanced approach.  We need to 
continue to remind the EU that our strategy is balanced 
between addressing both supply and demand. 
 
The EU Parliament 
------------------- 
 
9.  (U) The European Parliament is the only EU institution 
elected directly by universal suffrage.  Members are elected 
for a period of five years.  Parliament has 732 members and 
is divided by political affiliation, not by nationality. 
There are eight political groups which are coalitions of 
Member State Parties.  No single party enjoys a majority. 
The largest group in the current legislature is the EPP-ED 
(Christian Democrats/Center right), followed by the PES 
(Socialists/Center left) and then the ALDE (Liberals and 
Democrats for Europe/market-oriented center). 
 
10.  (U)  In the area of counter-narcotics and drug strategy, 
the Parliament currently has limited power to affect EU 
policy.  Drug policy is a Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) 
issue, and Parliament does not currently enjoy co-decision 
power with the European Council on JHA issues.  However, the 
draft Constitutional Treaty establishes that European 
"framework laws" would be adopted using the ordinary 
legislative procedure (i.e., co-decision with the 
Parliament).  The draft Constitution provides that European 
framework laws may establish minimum rules concerning the 
definition of criminal offenses and sanctions in the areas of 
particularly serious crime with a cross-border dimension, 
including illicit drug trafficking.  The Parliament will 
continue to have the last word on the EU budget and can thus 
affect EU assistance for counter-narcotics programs in third 
countries.  As expected, the Parliament is made up of 
individuals holding the full range of positions on drug 
policy - both supply and demand.  Parliamentarians are 
understandably pulled in different directions by party, 
national, constituent and personal interests, but political 
groups are starting to become more cohesive. 
 
Cooperation with Belgium 
-------------------------- 
 
11.  (U)  Belgian counter-narcotics issues are handled by the 
Federal Police, and in association with foreign countries 
through the Central Office (CBO) Drugs Squad.  Embassy 
Brussels maintains continual contact with the CBO on all 
investigative matters and both official and unofficial 
information is passed freely.  All information required for 
official purposes (e.g., official transcripts, prosecutions) 
is obtained through the issuance of a Mutual Legal Assistance 
Treaty (MLAT) request through the Belgian Ministry of Justice 
and the U.S. Department of Justice.  Extraditions to the U.S. 
are allowed for non-Belgians and requests to conduct 
international controlled deliveries of narcotics to and from 
Belgium occur with some regularity. 
 
12.  (U)  Due mainly to the seaport of Antwerp and Zaventem 
International Airport, Belgium experiences substantial 
cocaine importation estimated at a conservative twenty tons 
per annum.  Belgium is also the number two ranking country 
for MDMA (ecstasy) production in the world, behind The 
Netherlands.  Eradication of the MDMA and amphetamine 
laboratories in northern Belgium is a priority of the Belgian 
National Security Plan 2004-2007, particularly with respect 
to exportation of MDMA tablets.  The Brussels office of the 
Drug Enforcement Administration works closely with the CBO on 
MDMA investigations and seeks to exploit any direct nexus, 
either with the United States or with criminal groups that 
impact the United States.  The bilateral relationship with 
the Belgian Federal Police is outstanding. 
SCHNABEL 
.