US embassy cable - 05PARIS6633

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 006633 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2014 
TAGS: PREL, FR, PINR, EUN 
SUBJECT: FRENCH MFA ON NEXT STEPS FOR EU 
 
REF: PARIS 6033 
 
Classified By: PolMC Josiah Rosenblatt for reasons 1.4 (B & D). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  MFA DAS-equivalent for EU institutional 
affairs Setton told us September 27 that FM Douste-Blazy's 
September 23 proposal, at the governing center-right party's 
conference on Europe, for a two-speed Europe was "personal" 
not GOF policy.  (The same holds true for Interior Minister 
Sarkozy's proposal for a core group of the EU's six largest 
countries.)  We were told that the MFA was focused at the 
moment on demonstrating small successes as the best means to 
overcome the crisis in the EU following the demise of the 
constitutional treaty, and was looking at increased economic 
coordination within the Eurozone as a real possibility, in 
addition to France's traditional emphasis on research funding 
and fiscal harmonization.  He expressed some concern that the 
UK Presidency was moving too slowly to show modest results by 
the time of the October informal ministerial, but some hope 
that the British would realize that a fundamental reform of 
the EU budget would probably have to await the next cycle, 
beginning in 2013.  Setton indicated that the French 
AS-equivalent for European affairs would look forward to a 
regular dialogue with Washington visitors.  End summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) Deputy Political Counselor met September 27 with 
MFA European Directorate DAS-equivalent Philippe Setton, who 
is responsible for EU institutional issues, to discuss French 
ideas for ways to begin to re-burnish the EU's image in the 
wake of the French and Dutch rejections of the constitutional 
treaty.  The meeting seemed timely following the center-right 
governing party's September 24-25 convention on Europe, which 
dealt with the future of the EU as well as the issue of 
EU-Turkish accession negotiations. 
 
Back to the future with a two-speed Europe? 
------------------------------------------- 
 
3.  (U) European Directorate A/S-equivalent Gilles Briatta 
had told EUR A/S Fried September 2 that the May 29 French 
rejection of the constitutional treaty had dispelled once and 
for all the myth that the EU could enlarge and deepen 
simultaneously (reftel).  At the convention, FM Philippe 
Douste-Blazy proposed that a "hard core" of countries, 
constituting a "house within a house," should forge ahead to 
create a more integrated Europe.  His idea would be for a 
core group of countries to forge ahead as an "avant garde" to 
create a more integrated Europe on economic and monetary 
policy, defense, foreign policy, and internal security and 
justice. 
 
4.  (U) Importantly, Douste-Blazy rejected the idea of a 
two-speed Europe in which one group would permanently be 
relegated to less-integrated status, specifying that the 
inner core would remain open to joining by other EU members. 
In a variation on the same theme, UMP President and GOF 
Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy called for replacing the 
traditional Franco-German "motor" with a new one -- not a 
"directorate," he promised -- formed of Europe's six largest 
countries: France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Poland. 
(Comment: Sarkozy's addition of Poland appears to be his own, 
as Chirac has generally preferred to cultivate his 
relationship with Russian President Putin rather than with 
his Polish counterpart.  End comment.) 
 
MFA looking to smaller steps 
---------------------------- 
 
5.  (C) Asked for his reactions to these proposals, Setton 
qualified Douste-Blazy's proposal as a purely "personal" at 
this state.  (Comment:  This view is supported by press 
reports that President Chirac quashed an appearance at the 
convention by his former spokesman and confidante, European 
Affairs Minister-Delegate Catherine Colonna, although this 
likely had more to do with the discussion of Turkey than the 
future of the EU.  On the other hand, it appears that an 
earlier Douste-Blazy "personal" proposal to hold an 
international conference on Iraq has now become official 
government policy.  End Comment.)  Setton cast doubt on the 
viability of Douste-Blazy's proposal, saying that the Germans 
-- the primary proponents of the constitutional treaty, a 
policy he termed as "German unification writ large" for 
Eastern Europe -- were opposed to the creation of inner 
circles. 
 
6.  (C) Asked how the Quai viewed the way forward, Setton 
indicated that there was no alternative to working within 
existing institutions, since the EU was a "law-making 
machine" that moved forward in a procedural, incremental and 
institutional way.  Reform, too, was understood primarily in 
the institutional sense, which was why the rejection of the 
constitutional treaty was proving so debilitating.  Setton 
accepted as a given that France, unlike Ireland in 2002, 
would not be able simply to "vote again" on the 
constitutional treaty as is -- or at least not in the near 
future.  He thought it might be conceivable to revisit the 
question following the 2007 presidential elections.  In the 
interim, France would continue to wait until enough other 
member states ratified the treaty to achieve a "critical 
mass."  But he held out little hope this would occur, taking 
Pol Deputy's point that Commission Barosso had already 
indicated that the treaty was essentially dead. 
 
7.  (C) France, Setton said, would focus on modest steps over 
the near term aimed at demonstrating that the EU was 
continuing on as before and that the government had a handle 
on the situation.  The goal was more one of conveying 
normalcy than new departures; he said France will have 
accomplished its mission when Minister-Delegate Colonna can 
speak on France's foremost evening news program without 
generating controversy.  In terms of specific steps, Setton 
claimed there was a growing consensus within the EU to try to 
build on the Eurozone concept.  People understood the 
concrete value of the euro as currency, but there was perhaps 
more that could be done in the way of more coordination on 
fiscal and monetary policy, along the lines of increased 
economic governance.  He said France also would remain 
interested in increased EU funding of research and 
development and more fiscal harmonization. 
UK Presidency off to slow start 
------------------------------- 
 
8.  (C) Asked about the upcoming October and December summits 
under the British presidency, Setton indicated that the Brits 
had done little beyond dealing with the opening of accession 
negotiations with Turkey.  He expressed surprise that the 
Brits had not "pressed their advantage" more following the 
May 29 referendum, although he acknowledged that the July 7 
terrorist attacks in London had probably shifted their main 
focus elsewhere.  According to Setton, the Brits only last 
week completed a series of bilateral consultations with 
member states in the run-up to the October informal 
ministerial, and had yet to put forward any specific 
proposals. 
 
9.  (C) Setton's hope was that the informal ministerial would 
demonstrate that the EU was continuing to move forward.  He 
did not foresee any agreement on the budget before the 
summit, adding his sense that the British were discovering 
that they remained more or less isolated on this issue. 
Noting that the EU was incapable of sudden reforms, he hoped 
the UK might eventually come round to the idea of revisiting 
budget fundamentals at the end of the current budget cycle 
ending in 2013.  Meetings could begin before that, but it 
would not make sense to put them into effect until then. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
10.  (C) As someone who has worked EU issues for almost his 
entire career, Setton readily acknowledged his disappointment 
with the EU's current difficulties, from which he saw no easy 
way out.  His take on the "institutional and procedural" 
nature of the EU provides a useful reminder of the structural 
underpinnings for and limitations of EU politics. 
 
11.  (C) On a brighter note, he commented that his Briatta 
had greatly appreciated the opportunity to meet with A/S 
Fried and that he was looking forward to continuing the 
dialogue with PDAS Volker.  Our sense is that the French see 
these meetings as a concrete demonstration of U.S. interest 
in the EU.  Setton added that Briatta had spent time in 
Washington as part of the EU Commission representation and 
had been greatly influenced by his stay in the U.S. 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
STAPLETON