US embassy cable - 05PARIS3844

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 003844 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR PM/WRA PICO AND EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2015 
TAGS: MARR, PREL, PARM, FR 
SUBJECT: SA/LW NEGOTIATIONS ON MARKING AND TRACING: FRANCE 
LOOKING FOR SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME 
 
REF: A) STATE 99866 B) 5/31 RECINOS/PICO E-MAIL 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Paul Mailhot, Reason 1.4 B/D 
 
1. (C) Summary: France plans to work with its EU partners on 
Small arms and light weapons (SA/LW) negotiations, but in an 
effort to reach consensus, is prepared to take a more 
pragmatic bilateral approach.  The French end game is to 
obtain an agreement on dealing with the illicit trade in 
SA/LW, as opposed to no agreement, therefore France is 
prepared to accept an Instrument that emphasizes cooperation 
and is politically versus legally binding.  MFA experts are 
concerned that some national delegations will have a 
difficult time reaching an agreement as they have included 
among their delegates NGO members, who will have an 
ideological agenda.  In terms of implementation, France 
believes that regional issues should also be factored in and 
consideration should be given to assisting poor countries to 
comply with an agreement.  France is agnostic on record 
keeping, but strongly favors NATO standards for the marking 
of military SA/LW arms and ammunition.  France looks forward 
to working with the U.S. on an end game strategy.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (C) Ms. Marion Paradas, a DAS-equivalent director for 
strategic affairs, and Jean-Francois Guillaume, action 
officer for SA/LW, explained to us on June 1st that France's 
starting strategy for the upcoming negotiations on marking 
and tracing of SA/LW will be to back fully the EU position in 
support of a legally binding document.  Responding to our May 
31st demarche (ref A), they indicated that France shares U.S. 
concerns and, at the end of the day, is prepared to back a 
politically versus legally binding Instrument.  Our aim is to 
obtain an agreement on the basis of cooperation, they added. 
Guillaume and Paradas cautioned that other participants (no 
specific country mentioned) could be expected to be less 
flexible given that they have included NGOs among their 
delegates.  NGOs, Guillaume stated, have an agenda and are 
more intent on making a point than reaching an agreement. 
 
3. (C) In terms of tracking arms transfers via the marking 
and tracing of ammunition and the SA/LW themselves, Guillaume 
questioned whether we were looking at civilian and military 
weapons separately.  France does not see civilian arms as a 
global problem, hence, the French focus is on military arms, 
which are a source of destabilization in Africa, a region of 
major concern to France.  He explained that every country has 
its own standards and rules on the registration and tracking 
of civilian arms.  France also agrees that the UN Firearms 
Protocol already has provisions for marking, tracing, and 
record-keeping, and therefore there is no need to replicate 
the Protocol at the upcoming negotiations.  Guillaume added 
that the MFA was aware of U.S. domestic pressures (lobbies) 
against registration.  In terms of military ammunition and 
arms, Guillaume and Paradas expressed surprise that the U.S. 
has not backed the use of NATO standards.  France strongly 
supports the inclusion of SA/LW military ammunition in an 
agreement.  Paradas and Guillaume said they were unclear with 
respect to the U.S. position on seized, confiscated, or 
collected SA/LW, but observed that France favors the 
destruction of such weapons.  They understood that it might 
seem more economical to redistribute such arms and ammunition 
to appropriate governmental recipients, but given the fragile 
nature of many governments in impoverished developing 
countries, it would be more appropriate to just destroy 
seized SA/LW arms and ammunition.  Additionally, the French 
voiced support for assisting developing countries with the 
destruction of SA/LW and more generally on helping them to 
implement an agreed Instrument. 
 
4. (C) Paradas and Guillaume joked that France has and will 
continue to maintain extensive archives dating to the French 
revolution and beyond.  France was therefore agnostic on the 
30 versus 10 year proposals for record-keeping and could 
support the shorter timeframe, as necessary.  Returning to 
the discussion of end game options, Paradas and Guillaume 
observed that they could not speak for other EU member 
states, but that the French approach is to support the 
overall initiative next week and to seek a consensus 
document, which hopefully can allow for regional differences 
in  implementation.  As they noted earlier, France's focus is 
on the problems posed by SA/LW in Africa. 
 
 
WOLFF