Today's Date:

XIIIth French Ambassadors' Conference

Opening speech by Philippe Douste-Blazy, Minister of Foreign Affairs (excerpts)

Paris, August 30, 2005

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The first question we can tackle together this morning: what’s the new state of the world? (...) The comprehensive re-ordering of our world over the past 15 years is continuing now with a new development: globalization. This is bringing progress but also new upheavals and calls for a new mode of international governance.

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INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM/OPERATION

Let me start by observing that the first issues we face concern the actual operation of the international system. Since, while this transition has been going on for 15 years, some players which emerged in the wake of the Second World War still exist today: I’m thinking in particular – they are, of course, different categories of organizations – of the UN, European Union and NATO, whose role – one it’s, moreover, seeking to redefine – can’t be to limit the necessary development of Defence Europe; other players from the former Eastern bloc disappeared with the end of the Cold War. And then, above all, there are these new players which, taking advantage of the blocs’ disappearance and, precisely, of globalization, have greatly enhanced both their international economic and political positions. They are playing a growing diplomatic role, acting well beyond their regional environment. We obviously see this with China, Japan, India, Brazil and, of course, South Africa and also Nigeria.

With these new centres of power and the consequent strengthening of regional groupings comes the need to integrate these States and groups of countries into the decision-making structures tasked with maintaining international stability. This (...) is where the whole debate on enlarging the Security Council comes in.

These profound geopolitical changes have major consequences for us too. One of the most delicate is, of course, the move from a status of subordinate to one of partner, issue by issue, crisis by crisis, without the automaticity of the past. This is a matter which arises or will arise for every power, new or old, in their relationship with the United States. And so for us it’s naturally an important factor in the long-term transatlantic relationship. Also crucial to the operation of the international system: recognition of new challenges. I see two – there are others –: international terrorism and globalization. Since, in this period of transition, with the intrusion of international terrorism as a player in the global system capable of taking advantage of every weakness and the vulnerability of our democracies, yes, 11 September 2001 is quite obviously a key moment, as are the war in Iraq and the ensuing upheavals. Both – let’s make no mistake here – prompt two questions:

First question: to what extent are international legislation and institutions established in the second half of the twentieth century apposite for dealing with the new threats linked to terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction? Second question: how do we ensure that the only universal ground rules we’ve got today – those of the United Nations Charter – allow development of an effective multilateralism?

USE OF FORCE

This leads to a question on the use of force: when is it justified to resort to force under the United Nations Charter and in the framework of an international mission? How do we define this mission in a non-emergency situation – it’s perhaps easy in an emergency –, bearing in mind the increasingly necessary duty of protection? Also, how do we organize the ending of such a mission after establishing a process securing both political stability and economic reconstruction? This is the problem in Iraq, in Côte d’Ivoire and other regions.

TERRORISM/WMD/IRAN/NORTH KOREA

But, aside from the use of force, everyone is conscious of the necessity in the face of terrorism of close international cooperation on attacking the scourges terrorist movements use as pretexts. Let’s be clear here: nothing, it’s true, can justify acts of terrorism – we’ve seen the terrible spectacle of it again recently. But if we want to find lasting solutions in our battle against terrorism, we also have to work actively for democracy and development, and against inequality, since crises and threats provide pretexts to those advocating mindless violence. So to mobilize the international system against terrorism, we must learn to develop what I’d describe as this comprehensive approach.

The same applies to the challenge of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Here, the credibility of the multilateral tools is today at stake. The international system has to be capable of responding to the new threats; in this respect, Iran and North Korea will be tests.

GLOBALIZATION/ODA

Another major vital objective: to define the international system's response to globalization. Should we just let things happen, adopt a laissez-faire policy? Should we espouse, as the indisputable synonym of progress, deregulation and the trend to cultural, linguistic and in the end intellectual standardization? Since, while globalization has some undeniably positive effects, it also carries new dangers: for international security – we've just talked about terrorism, which thwarts globalization while making use of it – for domestic security, with the increase in drug trafficking, pandemics and the trade in human beings. For the social fabric of our societies with outsourcing and unemployment, and also a feeling of loss of identity sometimes leading, as a backlash, to new outbreaks of nationalism, bringing tension.

Finally, let's think about how globalization affects development assistance: although, by increasing trade, globalization has enabled many countries at last to experience strong economic growth, in the poorest of them it has led them to fall still further behind and made the need for a determined commitment to help development in the South even more acute. Everyone knows France's positions which President Chirac has expressed on several occasions. (...) But we should realize that this is one of major factors undermining international stability.

UN/PLANE TICKET SOLIDARITY LEVY/AIDS In this context, as President Chirac said yesterday, France with several of her partners, will take to the United Nations the project for a first international solidarity levy on plane tickets with a view to allocating these additional resources to the fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. And I'd like this morning to propose that the funds yielded by this solidarity levy be used to help set up a central purchasing system for medicines which could be run by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. We would thus be helping achieve the ambitious objective set in Gleneagles of universal access to treatment for all AIDS patients who need it by 2010. Let me remind you that treating an AIDS patient in the United States or European Union costs €13,000 per year.

A central purchasing system would cut this to €150 per year, i.e. saving millions of people.

Clearly, solutions to the world's problems and challenges, be they old or new, can be found only in a collective, concerted approach legitimized by the multilateral system. This is why we continue resolutely to support the United Nations. On the eve of the major meeting of the Millennium Goals Review Summit in New York, with an agenda which will dictate the UN's ability to act in the coming decades, our commitment is stronger than ever. Those are a few thoughts on the new state of the world.

FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY In our foreign policy response to this new state of the world we have to be proactive and refuse to be inward-looking.

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I want to share with you three convictions which I think it essential to place at the heart of France's foreign policy, inspired by her history and nurtured by her principles and values.

- Firstly, the sense of our world's close interdependence in every sphere. The terrorist threat is the most spectacular example of this. It is far from the only one. Poverty, epidemics, water and energy resources, climate warming, issues raised by biotechnology, frailties of the international financial system and so on. These are some of the major concerns shared by the members of the international community. There is here a de facto solidarity which is not yet fully recognized, but which must be the springboard for a foreign policy serving both the nation conducting it and the general world interest.

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- So interdependence but also tolerance and dialogue. Let's loudly proclaim our commitment to the dialogue between cultures and civilizations since in these times of intolerance, of the exploitation of differences to incite hatred and violence, France must give priority to listening to the multiplicity of voices and experiences. You do this every day. Today, this approach, one which creates concrete ties, human ones, at a day-to-day level, must be unremittingly pursued.

It must go hand in hand with the defence of cultural pluralism in the world. (...)

- As well as dialogue and tolerance, we must at last give its full importance to the emergence of a genuine collective responsibility for promoting peace. Resentment stemming from the world's inequalities is increasingly violent and deep now that injustices are felt in real time (...). So today the aim isn't to restore order, but to create the conditions for an acceptable, i.e. fairer order. Not to content ourselves with the task of keeping peace, but be more aware that building peace is a constant effort: to devise negotiated solutions to the injustices threatening the world's poorest; and resist cultural fundamentalism through the quest for dialogue and mutual respect.

Similarly, our conception of multipolarity is not, as is often believed, motivated by the simple concern to restore balance to a world with seemingly now only one superpower; it isn't that. It reflects the conviction that responsible regional entities are better able to guarantee the harmonious functioning of the international community over the long term. The multipolar world moreover exists. And we must direct our efforts to ensuring it is founded to a greater extent on law and collective responsibility and acts in accordance with ground rules accepted by everyone. For her part, France is working for this, since it's the only path which offers a serious response to the developments heralded by the growing weight of the new powers. Ambassadors, these are the convictions which will underpin my action on the major issues we have to tackle over the next few months:

EUROPE

As you can well imagine – we talked a lot about it yesterday afternoon – the first issue is Europe. (...) Clearly the crisis, opened up, in fact revealed, by rejection of the European Constitution in France and the Netherlands, deepened by the absence of an agreement on the financial perspective, has plunged the Europeans into a period of doubt and concern. Both are particularly strong because they are combined with a feeling of helplessness in the face of an increasingly complex and constantly changing edifice.

(...) The 29 May vote reflected, quite obviously, the feeling that the majority of our people no longer recognized the Europe conceived by the founding fathers and most of the political leaders who helped get the project under way. Where is its identity in all this? (...)

EU ENLARGEMENT/TURKEY

But its rejection doesn't mean that we have to give up. Today, we need to set off anew and give our fellow citizens back a vision of Europe's future. And this vision must quite obviously take into account any possible forthcoming enlargements. Indeed there is scarcely any doubt that by their vote on 29 May our fellow citizens wanted to signal genuine concern about an accession process some felt was never-ending. Further enlargements, without new methods of operation or adapting the goals we have set ourselves, couldn't fail to arouse the same reservations. We have here a warning we must heed.

In this respect, Turkey is a particularly sensitive issue. Over the past few months, we have all seen the public's reactions to the prospect of such an accession. By appending a unilateral declaration on Cyprus to her recent signature of the protocol to the agreement on the Customs Union, Turkey didn’t make things any easier: it is scarcely conceivable for a country asking to join a community to refuse to recognize one of its members.

So we are entitled to ask Turkey to clarify her position and commit to fulfil, effectively, all her obligations under her association agreement with the EU, including those concerning member States’ access to Turkish ports and airports. This request is legitimate; it is made in a spirit of responsibility since France doesn't want to open up a new crisis in Europe. She intends to honour her commitments, but expects Turkey, like other candidate countries, to honour hers and thereby satisfy the conditions laid down to join the EU.

Building Europe is a long-term endeavour. The next two years will be crucial: we're going to have simultaneously to develop our common polices specifying what we want to do together, take decisions on the prospects and timetable for the next enlargements, while at the same time reinforcing the neighbourhood policy, particularly with our Maghreb and Mediterranean partners in the framework of the Barcelona Process, and give fresh impetus to the European Union's international action. For me the immediate priority seems to be to recreate confidence and hope, inject coherence and cohesion into EU action, particularly by giving our peoples "evidence of Europe", concrete evidence of what Europe brings us – the need is now for concrete evidence – i.e. to prove the European added value in very concrete areas such as research, higher education and innovation. To restore the desire to work together and patiently build a renewed ambition for our continent. In short, to restore purpose and direction to this unparalleled enterprise, Europe. Here, I'd like to emphasize several areas where I intend, under President Chirac and the Prime Minister's authority, and in close collaboration with my government colleagues, to take the initiative:

ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE/ENHANCED COOPERATION

- First of all, economic governance: everyone can see that the euro is still today incomplete for lack of a seriously coordinated economic policy between the Euro Area countries. Everyone can see too that the European Union's growth rate lags far behind the United States' – 1 compared with 1.5%.

Shouldn't our objective be to catch up as fast as possible?

There's a need for enhanced cooperation in every area of economic action: taxation, budgetary policy, the efforts to modernize our economies which are up against increasingly sharp international competition, as we can see every day with China. (...) We need to put in place the elements of a genuine economic governance, establish a determined dialogue with the European Central Bank and thus develop an area of prosperity and harmonious growth based on the euro. (...)

RESEARCH

- Secondly, research. This must become, like the Common Agricultural Policy, a real European policy, capable of taking on board the latest bio-, nano- and information technology. (...)

SECURITY/TERRORISM/AIR SAFETY/BIRD FLU

- Thirdly, security: our fellow citizens need to feel that Europe is capable of protecting them against the threats assailing us today. Three very recent examples will illustrate what I'm saying: terrorist bombings like those we saw in Madrid and London compel us together to seek responses to such attacks; more than ever, we must mobilize at the operational level, cooperate on judicial matters and strengthen our border controls, particularly with the help of biometric visas. In this area, European citizens expect us to take energetic, resolute and long-term measures.

The same applies to everything to do with air safety: in the face of the large number of disasters over the summer, the public are rightly demanding that we should be capable of protecting air passengers against the unacceptable practices of some pretty unscrupulous companies. (...)

Finally, security in the health sphere: at a time when bird flu is developing in Asia, our Europe has to be capable, without excessive alarm but rigorously and methodically, of coordinating its response to this new risk. (...)

EXTERNAL ACTION/EUROPEAN CIVILIAN SERVICE

- Finally external action: faced with threats of man-made origin, such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and challenge of underdevelopment, faced with natural disasters such as famine, drought, pandemics and attacks on the environment, the scourges of our era demand collective responses, i.e. an ability to mobilize international solidarity. This is a unique opportunity for Europe to take the lead in generous and useful initiatives and show that our EU is capable of existing beyond its own borders. Creation of a European civil protection force, as envisaged after the tsunami, or a humanitarian rapid action force and establishment of a European civilian service, which the Prime Minister has called for, will be its most concrete expression. The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) must also maintain its new momentum.

EUROPEAN CONTINENT/BALKANS/ICTY

But going beyond the EU itself, our objective must be the organization of the whole European continent. The quest for peace which was at the origin of the European project and underpinned Franco-German reconciliation has today regained its full pertinence. This prompts us to think about the relations the EU wishes to develop with its neighbours, both those destined to join us and the others. We mustn't be afraid to ask the real questions and restate our criteria.

Accordingly, the European Union wishes to give the Balkan peoples the hope and prospect of joining it. This is a powerful factor of stability for this scarred region. At the same time, this development must satisfy an ethical imperative, and we shall be very vigilant in this respect, particularly regarding cooperation with the International [Criminal] Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

RUSSIA

Russia, in the midst of radical change, is also at the heart of our continent's future. For Europeans, the challenge will be to establish with this partner sustainable relations, based on confidence, promoting mutually-advantageous developments. This is one of the greatest strategic challenges the European Union is going to confront in the next few years: an essential partner on the energy front, with considerable political, economic and cultural potential, but faced with a serious need for economic and political reform, Russia must find her place in a democratic Europe and play her full part in the development of a prosperous continent reconciled to itself.

US

On the other side of the Atlantic, in the vacuum left by the end of the East-West conflict, America, with her immense political, military, economic, technological and cultural power, has sought to take things in hand. But she is seeing the limits of her action and the limits of unilateralism. This finding confirms, if that were necessary, that in today's world no nation can on its own act and decide for the others when peace is at stake. At a time when America is realizing the merits of a transatlantic partnership based on confidence and mutual respect, Europe must grasp the opportunity to play its role in world affairs. But let's be careful not to let our doubts or hesitations delay decisions: it would be paradoxical if just when the United States seems ready to accept a genuine partnership with the European Union, the EU were to retreat in order to deal with its internal difficulties. We are working and discussing a lot with the United States. Both on the ground and at the ideas level – I'm thinking of developments in the projects for democratizing the Middle East – the dialogue is producing some good results. I think this trend will grow: at any rate, I shall be working with our American partners, not just in a spirit of friendship, but also in a demanding and firm one: we have to defend our vision of the world and our conception of a balanced partnership.

LATIN AMERICA

On the same continent, we see very much eye to eye with the Latin American countries on the world's problems, the fight against poverty, which President Chirac launched with his Brazilian and Chilean counterparts, and support for cultural diversity and multilateralism. (...)

MIDDLE EAST

In the Middle East, everyone senses the possibility of a new way forward: we must do the utmost so that after years of tragedy and setbacks, we re-establish the virtuous circle leading to peace. We have welcomed the withdrawal from Gaza, remarkably managed on both sides. It's a model implementation of the "peace for land" principle, underpinning all the efforts since the 1991 Madrid Conference. The immense hope which is emerging must encourage Israelis and Palestinians to take matters forward and return to the specific and balanced Roadmap process. We have to find the right pace: one which permits fresh progress while smoothly building each stage on the successful completion of the preceding one. The dialogue between the parties is the key to this process; it won't progress without the international community's support. Because of her relations with the Palestinians and reinvigorated friendship with the Israelis, France will actively seek, with her European partners, to ensure that, going beyond the withdrawal from Gaza, the conditions for a lasting peace – again set out in the Roadmap – are put in place. (...)

This progress towards peace in the Middle East and, in Lebanon, the return through democracy to a sovereignty which has for too long been limited, is restoring hope to a region with which we have deep-rooted ties.

IRAQ

This is why we must also work for the success of the political process in Iraq in order to end the mindless violence to which Iraqis daily fall victim and which is preventing that country's stabilization and reconstruction. This is, of course, in the first place, in the Iraqis' interest; it's also in the whole international community's interest.

What’s essential is to restore peace. In the face of the worsening violence, it is daily becoming more obvious that nothing lasting will be built in Iraq if the different communities aren't reconciled, persuaded to live together and define together a common vision of their country's future. Iraq's unity and sovereignty are at the heart of the issues demanding long-term solutions. It's naturally for the Iraqis to decide the constitutional form of their State without outside interference, but taking on board the fundamental principle of democracy: the majority decide the law while respecting minorities and their place.

Our support for the Iraqis' efforts to surmount the obstacles is total. Even though, as everyone knows, it excludes any military presence on the ground, it involves training [in France within the EU framework] which our Baghdad embassy is organizing.

This international support is essential. Perhaps we should think about reinvigorating it by, for example, convening a meeting of the participants in last November's Sharm el Sheikh conference in order again to set the course, reaffirm the prospect of the withdrawal of the foreign forces and support the forthcoming stages in the institutional process. We shall no doubt have to return to this issue in the next few months.

AFRICA

Africa. Africa has a special place in this international landscape and in France's heart and conscience. The long-standing ties uniting us to the African peoples give ever greater justification to our country’s pursuit of its battle not just for development but also to reduce conflicts and prevent crises on the African continent. In 20 years, Africa's share of international trade has fallen from 10 to 2%.

Africa today cumulates all the challenges and threats facing the modern world. Africa symbolically highlights the indissociable link, which President Chirac stressed yesterday, between solidarity, security and responsibility. So, quite obviously, Africa will occupy a special place at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Let's be clear-sighted about this. There won't be security or growth for the Western world, and particularly for the European continent – given that only 14 km of sea separate it from the African continent –, without Africa's development and stabilization.

Security and development are indissociable. Africa is not doomed to see never-ending crises and poverty. (...) Because its own security is at stake, the international community must resolutely embark on action to speed up the resolution of crises in Africa. vBut it must also ensure that Africa's growth no longer depends exclusively on development assistance. Let's strive to end the unacceptable paradox whereby Africa is rich and the Africans are poor. Let's end the Western compassion-, conscience-driven approach, “the hand that gives is above the one that receives”¹ attitude, and realize that our mutual interest is at stake. Let's give priority to boosting the African continent's integration in the world's economic and financial system. Let's ensure there are prospects for African young people, who today make up over two thirds of the population of this neighbouring continent. These major issues will be at the heart not just of the forthcoming discussions in New York for the Millennium [Goals Review] Summit, but also, let's make no mistake about this, at the end of the year – perhaps especially at the end of the year – in Hong Kong in the WTO framework. The long-standing ties uniting us to this continent are a precious asset. They justify France, more than ever, continuing to give priority to her battle for development as well as her efforts to reduce conflicts and prevent crises. (...)

ASIA

In Asia, interdependence doesn't yet guarantee security. There, paradoxically, the momentum of growth sometimes fuels the ambitions of power more than it enhances stability and regional integration. With China, India and Japan, we have three Asian powers who, today, are gaining from each other and benefiting the world from their development. Clearly, this doesn't mean that regional friction has disappeared – quite the contrary! But since international responsibilities go hand in hand with accession to power, they will have to be shouldered by these countries, be mutually accepted and shared, without excluding any, in the multilateral and regional institutions.

While it is difficult to predict the outcome of this movement, the partnerships we are undertaking with New Delhi, Beijing and Tokyo will, increasingly, have to take on board this "balance of powers" which is bound to dominate the Asian landscape. The same is true (...) for the European Union, which must also take its full rightful place in the different formats of regional or inter-regional dialogue within this great Asian entity. We must also, as French and Europeans, go on building our partnership with a South-East Asia which, year by year, is becoming more structured and is keen to move beyond tête-à-têtes with its closest great neighbours. (...)./.

¹ an African proverb.