US embassy cable - 05BRUSSELS1620

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001620 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: THE EU "GYMNICH" MEETINGS - HOW THEY OPERATE 
 
REF: SECTO 007 
 
Classified By: Kyle Scott, PolMinCouns, Reason 1.4 (D) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  Informal transatlantic "Gymnich" style 
meetings could provide a useful forum for informal exchanges 
that might help bridge the current impasse in NATO/EU 
relations.  END SUMMARY 
 
2. (C) In recent months, several proposals have been floated 
for more informal meetings between foreign policy chiefs in 
Europe with their U.S. counterpart.  Belgian PM Verhofstadt 
has suggested an EU/US "Transatlantic Gymnich" meeting, and 
NATO SYG De Hoop Scheffer (ref) has also suggested a combined 
EU/NATO foreign ministers meeting.  With that in mind, we 
offer the following background on what "Gymnichs" are and how 
they work. 
 
3. (U) "Gymnich" refers to an informal gathering of all 25 EU 
Foreign Ministers, together with the CFSP High Rep (Solana) 
and the External Relations Commissioner.  Named after the 
German castle near Bonn where the practice was established in 
1974, these meetings are held once during each six-month EU 
Presidency, usually on a weekend or on Friday-Saturday, at a 
resort in the Presidency country (most recently on April 
15-16 at Senningen Chateau in Luxembourg).  The venue often 
has a special meaning for the hosting FM, e.g. a historic 
site in his/her constituency that he/she will enjoy 
presenting to colleagues, though security inevitably plays a 
role in choosing a site.  There is traditionally a social 
program, to which the ministers' spouses are invited. 
 
4. (U) EU FMs already meet together some fifteen times a 
year, at monthly GAERC sessions (except in August) and as 
part of the delegations for the quarterly EU summits.  But 
these meetings have formal agendas related to the important 
role they play in the EU's legal and decision-making 
structures.  "Gymnichs," by contrast, are supposed to have an 
informal character that prevents the adoption of any EU 
legislation or policies and encourages freer, more 
forward-looking discussions than at their GAERC gatherings in 
EU buildings in Brussels.  Delegations are supposed to be 
small, just minister plus three or four, since the lack of 
formal decisions means less staff support is needed, in 
theory.  The preparations also differ: the Council's working 
groups in Brussels are not involved as the basic purpose of a 
"Gymnich" removes the need for exchanging signals or forging 
compromises ahead of the meeting.  A "Gymnich" therefore has 
no formal agenda.  The hosting FM proposes agenda issues, 
shared with capitals in an invitation letter, and usually 
meant to be oriented toward the medium or long-term.  But 
topical issues, major foreign policy developments or crises 
will inevitably be addressed. 
 
5. (SBU) The success of Gymnichs in encouraging informal or 
freewheeling debate among EUFMs is mixed at best.  In our 
view, Gymnichs most resemble GAERCs without the Conclusions 
and the neckties.  The EU's increased membership, the 
inevitably growing delegations, the needs of the media for a 
press center and press conferences, and the ever-stricter 
security requirements all conspire to turn these informal 
sessions into carefully scripted events.   In the last 
several years, perhaps only the Greek Gymnich on the remote 
island of Kastellorizo in March 2002 can be argued to have 
made any significant contribution in terms of "new thinking" 
in EU foreign policy, having served as the launching pad for 
what eventually became the European Security Strategy in 
December 2002.  Greek FM Papandreou tried at the same meeting 
to promote a freewheeling discussion on US-EU relations by 
soliciting thirty-odd papers on the topic from independent 
experts and commentators.  This proved too much for the 
assembled FMs to digest. 
 
6. (C) COMMENT:  For EUFMs, who already meet so frequently in 
formal sessions, it is the informal nature of Gymnichs that 
is the supposed to make them stand out.  For the U.S., a 
"transatlantic Gymnich" would provide a different dynamic 
from the regular, semi-annual US-EU ministerials, in that the 
latter sessions are in US plus EU Troika (Presidency FM, 
Solana, and RELEX Commissioner) format.  A Transatlantic 
Gymnich (or a NATO-EU "Gymnich") would be for the U.S. plus 
EU at 25.  The challenge in such a large forum would be 
maintaining informality and coherence, while resisting the 
temptation to over-schedule the event.  To the extent such 
meetings could help bridge the current impasse in NATO/EU 
relations, Mission believes they could be useful. 
 
MCKINLEY 
.