US embassy cable - 05PARIS7197

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 007197 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/13/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KSCA, SOCI, AMED, FR 
SUBJECT: FM DOUSTE-BLAZY MEETS AMBASSADOR STAPLETON, URGES 
CREATIVE FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Craig Stapleton.  Reasons 1.4b,d 
 
1.  (SBU) Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy welcomed Ambassador 
Stapleton to France during a October 13 courtesy call that 
had been repeatedly deferred by scheduling problems at the 
Quai d'Orsay.  Joining FM Douste-Blazy were WHA 
A/S-Equivalent Parfait and Americas Advisor Dore; DCM Karl 
Hofmann and poloff also attended.  Declaring himself 
"pro-American," conscious of a shared history and common 
democratic values, Douste-Blazy emphasized his hope to deepen 
Franco-American cooperation in international affairs.  He 
cited recent coordination on Lebanon and Syria as a case 
study in teamwork, and stated that consultations on Iran were 
"positive." 
 
2.  (C) The U.S. should pay more attention, however, to 
development aid, he offered. "The Republican administration 
and President Bush" should be more receptive to initiatives 
for creative financing on a "planetary" scale as proposed by 
President Chirac in tandem with President Lula.  Douste-Blazy 
referred specifically to the notion of a tax on international 
airline tickets.  Acknowledging the Ambassador's rejoinder 
that President Bush had doubled U.S. assistance to Africa and 
on HIV/AIDS, Douste-Blazy emphasized the importance of 
channeling aid through international mechanisms rather than 
bilateral programs.  Development aid, moreover, was critical 
to the fight against terrorism, he maintained, finding it 
significant that three of the perpetrators of the London 
bombings hailed from the African Sahel region.  "If Africans, 
who are often Muslims, are left to die of hunger, thirst and 
AIDS, sooner or later they will follow calls to commit 
kamikaze attacks in New York, Paris and London."  FM 
Douste-Blazy said he looked forward to pursuing discussions 
with World Bank President Wolfowitz during 13-14 October 
meetings, expressing hope that Wolfowitz would be able to 
rally the U.S. administration. 
 
3.  (SBU) FM Douste-Blazy and the Ambassador each praised the 
excellent commercial relationship between France and the U.S. 
 Douste-Blazy mentioned there were over 2,400 French 
subsidiaries in the U.S. accounting for a billion dollars in 
business each day.  The Ambassador added that there were 
about 500,000 more employees on each side of the Atlantic 
thanks to American and French companies.  Douste-Blazy 
encouraged the Ambassador to meet with Clara Gaymard, "a 
young woman, strong and tough," whom Chirac had chosen to 
promote foreign investment in France as President of the 
"Invest in France" agency (AFII).  Douste-Blazy asked for the 
Ambassador's help in countering a prevalent American 
stereotype of France with its 35 hour work week and street 
protests by communists and unions.  France, he insisted, 
enjoyed the highest worker productivity worldwide, a fact he 
attributed to a culture of arts, leisure, food and family 
(sic).  That said, he granted that a 38-39 hour workweek 
would be acceptable.  Unions, he remarked, were a spent force 
in France.  The Ambassador observed that U.S. companies were 
mostly happy with the quality of their French employees, even 
considering the constraints of the French social protection 
system.  The way to attract further U.S. investment, he 
suggested, was first to encourage expansion by U.S. firms 
already operating in France. 
 
4  (SBU) Turning to the risk of an avian flu pandemic, the 
Ambassador appealed for close Franco-American cooperation and 
urged French participation in IPAPI.  Douste-Blazy noted 
that, as health minister, he had personally put together the 
French response plan on avian flu.  He noted that Aventis, a 
French company, was the main supplier of the Avian flu 
vaccine, which it was producing at a factory in the U.S. and 
another in France. Douste-Blazy pledged to raise the matter 
with the Secretary. 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
STAPLETON