This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 002262 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EB/TPP, EUR/WE AND IO/T 
 
STATE PASS USTR 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SCUL KIPR ETRD FR EUN
SUBJECT:  FRANCE STRENGTHENS PUSH FOR "CULTURAL EXCEPTION" 
 
REF: Paris 2231 
 
NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
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Summary 
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¶1.  (SBU) France has ramped up its efforts to influence 
UNESCO-sponsored discussions on a Convention on the 
Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and 
Artistic Expressions ("Cultural Diversity Convention"), 
which it apparently sees as a vehicle to strengthen the 
"cultural exception" to international trade law.  First, 
France will host the EU Council and Commission Presidents 
for a two-day conference on May 2-3 to promote a Charter for 
a Cultural Europe (and the French "cultural exception). 
Next, France will support NGOs and other professional groups 
at the Fourth International Meeting of Cultural Professional 
Organizations in Madrid, May 9-11, which will be attended by 
members of the cultural lobby, key negotiators in the UNESCO 
talks as well as political leaders and government officials. 
Finally, in a move that caused some discomfort in EU 
circles, France will co-host a meeting of Culture Ministers 
in Madrid, June 11-12, at which it plans to press for 
special treatment of "cultural goods."  The GOF continues to 
look for allies wherever it can find them in its drive to 
get a Convention adopted at the October 2005 UNESCO General 
Conference.   END SUMMARY. 
 
THE GOF AGENDA 
-------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The GOF will continue to promote aggressively its 
longstanding support for a "cultural exception" in trade 
matters at the EU Culture Ministers' meeting in June.  The 
GOF is expected to push for an EU public document that: 
     --Affirms the allegedly special nature of "cultural 
goods and services." Previous UNESCO normative documents 
contend that "cultural goods and services" play a dual role 
in that they have economic importance, but also serve as 
transmitters of cultural values.  ; 
     --Emphasizes the sovereign right of States to adopt 
measures to protect and promote "cultural diversity" ( 
     --Reiterates the fundamental role of "cultural 
diversity" to support sustainable development, particularly 
in developing countries; and 
     --Urges that rights and obligations of the UNESCO- 
sponsored Cultural Diversity Convention should be superior 
to those in other international legal instruments. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Comment:  The UNESCO-sponsored discussions have not 
produced a definition of "cultural diversity."  Some, 
including the United States, stress the important role of 
cultural diversity within a country, while others seem to 
view national culture as unitary and contained within 
national boundaries.  Despite the presence of a sizeable 
Muslim minority, largely of North African descent, the GOF 
seems to tend toward the latter view.  End comment. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) France will take this same message to the Fourth 
International Meeting of Culture Professional Organizations 
to be held May 9-11 in Madrid.  The meeting's panels will 
feature members of the cultural lobby, NGO representatives, 
key negotiators in the UNESCO cultural diversity talks, as 
well as political leaders and government officials.  France 
previously hosted a meeting of the International Liaison 
Committee of Coalitions for Cultural Diversity (ILC) January 
26 and 27.  The second UNESCO meeting to discuss the 
"cultural diversity" Convention took place January 31- 
February 11.   The dates of the Spanish meeting, organized 
by the Spanish Coalition (i.e., the Spanish chapter of the 
ILC) have been "deliberately chosen," according to a press 
release by the Spanish coalition, apparently to attract 
maximum media and political attention in the run up to the 
third UNESCO meeting to discuss the Cultural Diversity 
Convention, which is scheduled for May 23-June 4. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The ILC meetings have gained in international 
stature over the years.  Previous ILC meetings were held in 
Montreal in 2001, in Paris in 2003, and in Seoul in 2004. 
These meetings attract culture professionals from 21 
national member countries, including Argentina, Australia, 
Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Republic of Korea, 
Mexico, New Zealand, Spain and, recently, Slovakia.  Other 
members are in the process of joining: Hungary, Mali, 
Cameroon, and the EU. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The French, Spanish and Brazilian governments are 
coordinating on the organization of the Culture Ministers' 
meeting on the UNESCO Convention in Madrid, June 11-12, 
¶2005.   The Ministers of Culture from France, Spain and 
Brazil issued the invitations from Paris on March 21.  We 
understand some EU member states were upset that they were 
not consulted about French participation in the meeting. At 
the meeting, France will call for greater "cooperation and 
solidarity" with developing countries. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In addition to its commitment to the adoption of 
the UNESCO Convention by the fall of 2005, France favors a 
"Charter for a Cultural Europe," to be discussed during a 
meeting in Paris May 2-3, in the presence of European 
Council President Jean-Claude Junker, and EU Commission 
President Jose Manuel Barroso.  French Culture Minister 
Donnedieu de Vabre regards this meeting as another 
opportunity for the EU to reaffirm its support for cultural 
diversity, "a commitment which is also a written obligation 
in the current Treaty on the European Union, and which is 
addressed in the European Constitution."  The meeting, 
announced March 31, was not coordinated through EU channels, 
though several member states are participating. 
 
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PROMOTING FRENCH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Less publicized but equally important to the French 
strategy is the steady efforts to promote the use of French 
in international fora.  France works through the 
International Organization of Francophonie (IOF) and its 
permanent representatives in the U.N. in New York and 
Geneva, in the African Union, in Addis-Ababa, and in the EU 
in Brussels.  In the last two years, it has revitalized the 
IOF, which now claims a membership of over 50 countries in 
five continents. France also works to maintain French as a 
working language in the European Union. 
 
¶9.  (U) The budget of the IOF remains modest at 227.1 
million euros.  Over 86 million euros finance TV5, while 
another 83 million go to the Intergovernmental Agency of 
Francophonie, which promotes the use of the French language. 
Although there are 175 million French-speaking people in the 
world, they report the use of French is increasing on the 
African continent and in the Middle East but stagnating 
elsewhere, or even declining in the Caribbean, particularly 
in Haiti.  The IOF reports that the French international 
television network TV5 is the second largest global network 
behind MTV but ahead of CNN.  With 40 million listeners, 
Radio France Internationale is the world's  third largest 
station behind BBC World and voice of America.  French- 
speaking countries represent 15 percent of global trade. 
 
REACHING OUT TO THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  (U) The 10th Summit of Francophonie in November 2004 
adopted a road map over the next decade, which lays out the 
promotion of the French language and cultural and linguistic 
diversity as the first of four priorities over the next 
decade.  In 2001, five international organizations, 
including the Organization of Spanish-American States, the 
Community of Portuguese-speaking countries and the Latin 
American Union, took part in the Third Ministerial 
Conference on Culture organized by the IOF in Cotonou, 
Benin.  The conference, attended by government officials, 
artists and members of civil society, also served to rally 
members on the French "cultural exception".  The conference 
produced a book entitled "Cultural diversity and 
globalization," which, in turn, inspired the Universal 
Declaration on cultural Diversity adopted in UNESCO in 
November 2001 
 
SPEAKING FRENCH IN THE EU 
------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U) The French also have pressed hard this year and 
last on the use of French in the EU, focusing on the new 
member states such as Poland, Slovakia and the Czech 
Republic, and a web site on Francophonie specifically aimed 
at those countries was launched (www.parlez-francais.com). 
In preparing the enlargement of the European Union, the 
IOF's main operating body, the Intergovernmental Agency of 
Francophonie (IAF), developed a plan signed by France, 
Belgium and Luxembourg to provide French-language training 
to some 6,255 civil servants from new member states between 
2003 and 2004.  Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic have 
joined the IOF as "observers," the first of three stages 
towards membership.  The need to maintain French as an 
official and working language in the EU was strengthened by 
several meetings in July 2004 with EU Foreign Affairs 
Ministers and potential candidates to the membership of the 
IOF.  Since early 2000, the IOF has also reached out to the 
Arab world and the Spanish and Portuguese "linguistic areas" 
to achieve greater cultural diversity. 
 
¶12.  (U) Current membership stands at 53 associate members 
and 10 observers.  Greece and Andorra have recently become 
associate members, and Armenia, Croatia, Austria, Georgia, 
Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary have 
observer status.  The GOF is said to be pushing for Israel 
to join ranks, but Lebanon opposes such a move.  Israel is a 
large market for French media exports, such as books and 
films. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) COMMENT.  The UNESCO-sponsored negotiations over 
the "Cultural Diversity" Convention have seemingly sparked 
the GOF to become better organized and financed in its 
efforts to promote its views on cultural matters.  The GOF 
does not want to include language issues in the Cultural 
Diversity Convention, perhaps in accord with its apparent 
view that cultural diversity is something that happens 
between nations, not within them.   Nonetheless, its 
language and culture programs are also benefiting from a 
more dynamic effort. 
LEACH