Today's Date:

General Affairs and External Relations Council – Press briefing given by M. Michel Barnier, Minister of Foreign Affairs (excerpts) .

Brussels, January 31, 2005

IRAQ

THE MINISTER – Today all of us have uppermost in our minds the situation in Iraq the day after an important election, during which the Iraqi people showed courage and determination. This election is – I reiterate this because it’s what we think – a first victory for the Iraqi people, a first victory for democracy in Iraq and a first step in the political process which we’ve called for, been working for and was clearly laid down in UNSCR 1546, which we approved unanimously at the United Nations a few months ago. It is also in line with the spirit of Sharm el Sheikh, where we were present, here again, with the countries of the region. The Security Council members were encouraging this political process. There will be other stages and other steps, these will have to be prepared for in the same way so that none are missed out. Taking this first very important result as a starting point, as President Jacques Chirac said in his conversation with George Bush earlier today, the subsequent stages must be prepared. The next one will be the Constitution, a new Constitution for Iraq with the goal of this Constitution – which is going to organize the federal structure of Iraq, her institutional system – being to ensure, organize a fair representation of the regions, of all the communities and political forces in Iraq. Our country, France, with the other European countries – since this is the framework we’re in here today – will support, on the basis of Mr Solana’s proposals, Iraq’s political and economic reconstruction.

MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS

Another subject, conflict, I deem pivotal, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with – as everyone is seeing and we welcome it – a new climate of confidence between Israelis and Palestinians, which has been progressively established, step by step, over the past few weeks. Now we must enter a virtuous circle and back the courageous efforts of the two parties. We also talked about the first stage which the United Kingdom is organizing with the London conference, which has to be structured in line with the Roadmap. As scheduled, I am going personally to Israel and Palestine next Monday and Tuesday.

And we also discussed the forthcoming stages for Mr Abbas: the reorganization of the Palestinian Authority and preparation of municipal and parliamentary elections, which are also important and which we’ll also have to support, as the European Union did [for the presidential election] with the mission of Michel Rocard and his whole team. The time will come, of course, when we shall have to think about organizing an international conference which will have to play a key role in the final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I firmly believe – and this will very probably be the priority point in our dialogue with President Bush on 22 February – that 2005 can and must be the year of peace in the Middle East, and that we, Europeans and Americans, must make it the priority in our dialogue.

TSUNAMI/EUROPEAN CIVIL PROTECTION FORCE

A third serious subject: the consequences of the tsunami. Here too we approved the action plan proposed by the Secretariat-General and the Commission. All in all, the Europeans' effort, if we’re talking about money, stands at €1.5 billion if you add together the contributions of the EU and the member States. For my part, I again insisted on one of the points of the action plan, which is – don't be surprised by my tenacity – the creation of a European civil protection force. It's a point which Dominique de Villepin also stressed on Friday at his EU Interior Ministers' meeting. We have to learn the lesson that there's no lack of goodwill in the wake of such disasters, but that it must be better organized. Hence the idea of there being, somewhere in Europe, a slim structure pooling – in the event of an emergency, as and when necessary, and depending on the nature of the crises – national or even regional units – I'm thinking of the German Länder. These would have been prepared, have conducted joint exercises and learned to work together and talk to each other. This would both translate the goodwill into more effective action and present a good image of the European Union.

TSUNAMI/VICTIM IDENTIFICATION/FRENCH CASUALTY FIGURES

I emphasized to my colleagues – this is a very painful and very sensitive point – the need for us together, with our specialist teams, working alongside the Thai authorities in particular and those of other countries which are on the spot, to proceed very quickly with the very difficult job of identifying the victims so as to give answers to the families today in distress. In this connection, last week I also asked an ambassador, M. du Boispéan to make himself available full time in Paris to talk, give answers and listen to the many French families affected by this disaster. As I speak, we know for certain that 22 French people were killed in this disaster and another 110 probably also died – the total of those known to be missing and those we have no news of.

EU/FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE/COHESION POLICY

This morning, we discussed the financial perspective (...) chapter by chapter, to try and narrow our differences, bring our points of view closer together.

We talked a lot this morning about an issue I remain very committed to: the cohesion policy. I confirmed that France will support the Commission's proposals regarding the structure of its proposed policy. Let me remind you that it envisages three Objectives, with the main one devoted to the regions and countries in greatest difficulty. This is indeed the goal of the cohesion policy I had the honour and responsibility of spearheading for five years (...) which is designed to reduce the disparities between regions and countries, and has demonstrated its value. So it's normal for the bulk of this money to be devoted to the countries and regions in greatest difficulty. If the Commission's proposals are accepted, this will mean 78% of the funds going to Objective I and the cohesion funds. That leaves about 20% for the other Objectives. Objective II [Regional competitiveness and employment objective] is the competitiveness objective for the other European regions which may have serious urban and relocation problems. Objective III [European territorial cooperation objective] concerns cross-border cooperation projects. We are committed to ensuring that the regional policy continues to concern the whole of the EU with, clearly, a strong financial and political emphasis on the regions in greatest difficulty, but without neglecting the others.

After signalling our agreement to the structure of these Commission proposals and objectives, I drew attention to the existence, throughout Europe, of territories which shouldn’t be forgotten on the pretext that they are more remote, i.e. what are known as the seven most remote regions. There will, of course, be a tough discussion on the budget for these policies. We have signalled that we are ready and willing to work alongside the Luxembourg Presidency to get agreement on the financial package in June, it's possible.

BRUSSELS AGREEMENT/CAP

It will be difficult for it to take into account the Brussels agreement on the Common Agricultural Policy, which redistributes – we'll come back to this later – each State's contribution more fairly and ensures the resources for the regional policy I've just been talking about. Probably, compared with the Commission's initial proposals, the overall volume of funds provided for cohesion will have to be adapted to take account of the budgetary constraint to which France remains committed.

UKRAINE

Finally, the issue of Ukraine which we have just considered with President Barroso and various commissioners. The Council is unanimous that we must substantially strengthen our ties with Ukraine, and that this new partnership with Ukraine must be conducted in the framework of the neighbourhood policy proposed by the Commission and the Council, which is going to see its first concrete application. We are keen for this policy to be ambitious and we can include lots of subjects and possibilities in this EU-Ukraine Action Plan. We are calling for all of these to be used very proactively: we are calling for an enhanced political dialogue, an economic partnership, greater movement of people between the EU and Ukraine, particularly young people and company heads. Let's make a success now, and for the coming years, of this neighbourhood policy and at the same time encourage this great country to consolidate its gains on the democratization and reform front. (...)

IRAQ

Q. – On Iraq, one of the major challenges is going to be reintegrating the Sunnis into the political process, how are you going to do this?

THE MINISTER – I dealt with the issue you raise in your question just now from a different angle when I was talking about an institutional system – which is going to be endorsed by the future Iraqi Constitution – allowing fair representation of all the political communities and forces. This democratic and political process which is getting under way and has begun reasonably well – even though we have to be cautious – thanks to the courage and votes of the Iraqis, won't really succeed on a long-term basis unless all the communities and forces present in Iraq take ownership of the democracy, the institutions and none – be they minority ones, there are in every country – feel excluded from the process. This is why, perhaps to a greater extent than was possible with the polling method used yesterday, it will be necessary to ensure that the institutions, as consolidated or established by the Constitution, allow or ensure fair representation. All the political parties are committed to this fairness. I remember a very interesting conversion I had with the representatives of 14 Iraqi political parties which the Foreign Ministry invited a fortnight ago, for a week of work, seminars and contacts in Paris. All the parties came, including the Sunnis who weren't taking part in the election but were nevertheless taking a close interest in the results. They all want to take part in the drafting of this Constitution, and the moment of truth will be the preparation of this new Constitution.

US/COALITION/DEPARTURE OF FOREIGN TROOPS/UNSCR 1546/US

Q. – There's no mention in the Council's conclusions of the United States, the Coalition, or the departure of the foreign troops?

THE MINISTER – It isn't a definitive situation. I myself referred to UNSCR 1546 which provides specifically, in the various stages, for the schedule, goal, at the end of 2005, when the issue of maintaining the foreign troops will be considered. There's a reference in the conclusions to which you refer to the international community which the United States belongs to. I think the Americans are included in what we've said and, of course, Iraq will be one of the main points in our dialogue with President Bush on 22 February and at my meeting next week with Mrs Rice.

IRAQ ELECTION

Q. – (on the usefulness of the election in Iraq)

THE MINISTER – There's one thing I am sure of: the only way out of this tragedy in Iraq is through democracy and a political process. It's the only way of ending this tragedy and moving quickly to the time when Iraq, the Iraqi people fully regain their sovereignty. My answer is yes, it's a useful stage in order to move closer to the moment when the Iraqis will be fully sovereign on their territory, masters of their destiny and, at the same time, there's an end to this situation of instability and insecurity. This tragedy won't be ended by additional soldiers or military operations. It will be ended through democracy and a political process, by elections. This one isn't the last one, it's the first. I've spoken of the Iraqis' courage and determination, they wanted and needed to vote – because for several decades they had really lost the habit of doing so. Everything I've just said is provided for in UNSCR 1546 which is being implemented stage by stage. This is why we worked on it constructively, as we did for the reduction in Iraq's debt and at the Sharm el Sheikh conference. France won't send soldiers to Iraq, she isn't in favour of police officers being trained on Iraqi territory for reasons everyone can understand, but she is ready to participate in such training outside Iraqi territory. This is a proposal we made several months ago to the current Iraqi government and confirmed to President al-Yawar when he came to Paris ten days ago.

UKRAINE/EU

Q. – As regards Ukraine and her president, who talked in Davos yesterday about membership of the EU, isn't your answer going to disappoint him?

THE MINISTER – I don't believe so, and I shall have the chance to talk to him about it since I'm going to Kiev to meet him in the next day or two. The Ukrainians are realistic people. What the elected President expressed is an understandable aspiration, given, as everyone has been able to see, the impact of the European democratic model on the Ukrainian people. Let's put things in order and complete the stages of this partnership and dialogue without undue haste, one at a time. The Ukrainians have a lot of work ahead of them for the reform, democracy, market economy, and it's going to be an important and tough period for them. We have to help them. We ourselves have to put some order into our own house – now that it has just got bigger – with a Constitution we need in order to function, which hasn't yet been ratified. Also, we're only just starting the dialogue with Ukraine. Let's make a success of this neighbourhood policy, we haven't yet had any experience of it with any country, let's give it ambition, strength, let's take advantage of all the possibilities and opportunities it offers – I've mentioned some of them: WTO accession and all the envisaged areas [of cooperation]. That's what I'll be saying in Kiev when I go there.

CROATIA/EU/ICT

Q. – Do you agree with the Commission issuing a formal demand to the Croat government?

THE MINISTER – We've said in our bilateral talks with the Croat government, and I said this myself when I went to Zagreb, that efforts have to be made – everyone must make them – to comply with the International Criminal Tribunal. The Commission is saying what all the member countries think.

(...)

IRAQ/FRENCH TROOPS

Q. – Given the fact that on the whole the election went well, could that encourage France to send troops to Iraq?

THE MINISTER – We're committed, as we've said, over and above the proposal we confirmed to the Iraqi president for training police officers outside Iraqi territory in a place very close to it. This proposal still holds and we think it will be taken up. We have other commitments we're ready to fulfil: reducing the debt, administrative and technical cooperation, cooperation in the sphere of the rule of law, environmental works and programmes, economic development. We are ready to participate as French – this is in a way the purpose of the proposal I made when I invited 14 Iraqi political parties to a week-long seminar in Paris; we are ready for this cooperation to help in every aspect of Iraq's political and economic reconstruction.

EU 2007-2013 FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK

Q. – (on the 2007-2013 financial framework)

THE MINISTER – Don't ask me for specific answers when we're beginning the discussion, with the tough goal of completing it in July. What's necessary is a concern for fairness in the political responses, the funds allocated and the contributions of each member State. That's my rule, for us to be just and fair with every country so that it receives what it needs in line with its economic development, and as regards what it has to contribute to the European Union budget.

Q. – What is France’s position on the services directive?

THE MINISTER – I’m very familiar with the services directive since I took part in the discussion about it in the college [of Commissioners] at the time. The starting point which the Commission looked at, as is its role, is that, when it comes to services which are very important throughout Europe, the internal market is very imperfect and this basically penalizes the European economy and in particular France, given the recognized importance of the service or services economy in our country. The Commission had theoretically put together a proposal for a horizontal solution to this inadequate harmonization. Now that this draft directive is under discussion, we realize that this horizontal method does indeed pose problems regarding the exact sphere it covers. Will the audiovisual sector, for example, continue to be covered by the “Television without Frontiers” directive or by this new directive? Are healthcare services really excluded? We know they’re important for our compatriots’ daily lives. There are also certain risks, when you lay down the country of origin principle [whereby service providers are subject to the laws of their country of origin rather than of the country where the service is provided], of service providers turning their backs on harmonization, I’m thinking of consumer protection. So you see when discussing the substance of the application of this horizontal method that it raises problems. This is why France thinks there needs to be a directive, but would like it re-examined from all angles so that we consider all its consequences before it is definitively approved./.