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Viewing cable 08PARIS674, FRANCE OFFERS VIEWS ON FAO, UNESCO, UNDP, IAEA AND WIPO

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08PARIS674 2008-04-11 14:44 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Paris
VZCZCXRO0063
RR RUEHRN
DE RUEHFR #0674 1021444
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111444Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2554
INFO RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0010
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2839
RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 0636
RUCNDT/USUN NEW YORK
UNCLAS PARIS 000674 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR IO, EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL FAO UNESCO UNDP IAEA WIPO FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE OFFERS VIEWS ON FAO, UNESCO, UNDP, IAEA AND WIPO 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  (SBU)  IO DAS Gerry Anderson met with MFA Deputy Director for 
United Nations and International Organization Affairs Marc Giacomini 
and several staffers April 10 for a tour d'horizon of a number of 
current IO issues, including financing, reform and upcoming 
elections at FAO, UNESCO, UNDP, IAEA and WIPO. 
 
------- 
WFP/FAO 
------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  France recognized that rising food prices have reached a 
"boiling point", and Giacomini was curious if biofuels subsidies in 
the U.S. might be aggravating the problem.  Even though the EU's 
financing system was not particularly flexible, France would largely 
depend on it for its contribution to the WFP's special appeal. 
France did not have the money to fund more than a "symbolic" effort 
of its own.  On FAO budget and reform issues, France largely shared 
U.S. goals, but was concerned that freezing the budget in 2008 as 
spur to institutional reform after the large increase in 2007 might 
leave funding of the Immediate Action Plan short.  It did not think 
that current EU Commission discussions about bridging gaps through 
project-based financing were fully formulated or had much chance of 
working. 
 
------ 
UNESCO 
------ 
 
3.  (SBU)  On reports that President Sarkozy had promised to support 
an Egyptian candidate for Director General-which Giacomini neither 
confirmed nor denied-he said France had been "sensitized" to 
concerns about the candidate's views by the U.S. and Israel, and had 
communicated these to the Sarkozy administration.  France agreed 
that the resolution introduced by the Cubans (item 48) was 
objectionable, and believed it would need extensive amendment to be 
acceptable. 
 
---- 
UNDP 
---- 
 
4.  (SBU)  DAS Anderson explained U.S. concerns about the need for 
better accountability though access to internal audits in order to 
meet Congressional mandates, as well as the potential loss of 20 
million dollars in funding if a solution could not be found.  The 
French said they did not approach this as an "ideological" issue, 
but had concerns that multiple layers of audit and accountability 
requirements could become a management challenge, and create the 
potential for unauthorized disclosure if internal audits were shared 
more widely. 
 
---- 
IAEA 
---- 
 
5.  (SBU)  France has not announced support for a candidate to 
succeed El Baradei, and had received no indication that he planned 
to run again.  Amano from Japan was good on non-proliferation, and 
came from a country that was an important player in civilian nuclear 
energy.  France was concerned however that India and the NAM would 
be looking to support a developing country candidate.  Perhaps 
someone from Latin America could be identified who would fit the 
bill? 
 
---- 
WIPO 
---- 
 
6.  (SBU)  France agreed broadly with the U.S. view that reform was 
needed, but saw this largely as due to "circumstantial" issues that 
would be relatively easy to fix. There were many good candidates and 
the French were preparing for several possible rounds of voting. 
They believed that the G77 would favor a developing world candidate, 
and agreed with the U.S. that the challenge would be finding someone 
who was committed to protection of intellectual property.  The 
Mexican candidate could present an interesting option in this case, 
as he would probably be considered acceptable by the South. 
 
7.  (U) This cable was cleared by DAS Anderson. 
 
STAPLETON