VZCZCXRO1632
PP RUEHAST
DE RUEHFR #4650/01 1880927
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 070927Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9290
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 0704
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0799
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2430

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 004650 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM EAID UNGA FR
SUBJECT: CAUTIOUS FRENCH INTEREST IN PARNERSHIP FOR BETTER 
GOVERNANCE 
 
 
PARIS 00004650  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Policy Planning (S/P) Director Dr. 
Stephen Krasner met with French officials and MFA consultants 
June 23-24 to discuss the nascent initiative for a 
"Partnership for Better Governance Group" (PBGG).  Krasner 
explained the PBGG would be a multilateral effort with 
interested developing states to facilitate the provision of 
specific state functions, for instance in health care, 
education, justice, etc.  It would not be a one-size-fits-all 
template; programs would be tailored to the needs of 
recipient countries in specific areas.  French interlocutors 
welcomed the core strategic goals, stressed the need for the 
UN to play a foundational role, but posed questions about 
possible redundancy with the UN Peacebuilding Commission. 
The IO/UN Adviser to the French Presidency cautioned against 
the likelihood of misperceptions of the PBGG, absent a UN 
lead, as a vehicle for a "hidden agenda" of U.S. 
transformational diplomacy.  Dr. Krasner indicated a 
willingness to consider UNDP ownership of the PBGG.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Pierre Levy, Director of the "Centre d'Analyse et 
Prevision" (CAP), the MFA S/P counterpart, hosted a luncheon 
discussion on June 23 with MFA consultants Professors Bassma 
Kodmani-Darwish (College de France, proponent of the "Arab 
Reform Initiative"), Ghassan Salame (Institute for Political 
Sciences, former Lebanese Cultural Minister), and Africa 
specialist Professor Richard Banegas (Univerity of Paris-I). 
Levy indicated interest in clarification of the mechanics of 
PBGG administration and its relationship with the UN and 
other extant assistance initiatives. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Professor Kodmani-Darwish asked how PBGG fit into 
the broader agenda of democracy promotion, particularly in 
the Middle East.  Jordan, she mused, might be willing to 
engage with the PBGG, unlike Egypt, which would want to 
maintain its "jobs program" bureaucracy.  Dr. Krasner 
underscored that PBGG assistance, unlike previous technical 
assistance programs, would be time-limited and would require 
accountability measurements.  Kodmani-Darwish advocated 
expansion of civil society agents to provide feedback on 
state performance and accountability. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Professor Banegas observed there was general 
resistance in African states to efforts to promote checks and 
balances in governance, because these are seen as empowering 
the opposition.  He noted the value in articulating standard 
indicators by which to measure the success of good governance 
programs.  Former Lebanese Culture Minister Salame opined 
that the PBGG should be advanced discreetly and with an 
enhanced multilateral signature.  He admitted there were 
already examples of PBGG-type activities, with Liberia and 
Lebanon both relying on the UN to lead judicial 
investigations that were beyond the means of those 
governments.  Such cases of voluntary cession of sovereignty, 
however, were exceptional, he thought. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Dr. Krasner met on June 24 with Laurent Vigier, 
Multilateral Affairs adviser to the French Presidency.  Like 
Pierre Levy, whom he stated he had not consulted, Vigier 
emphasized the need to reinforce the UN.  Absent a UN lead, 
he predicted there would be grave misperceptions about the 
nature of the PBGG as a vehicle for a "hidden agenda" of U.S. 
transformational diplomacy.  Dr. Krasner said UNDP ownership 
of the PBGG was one possibility. 
 
Development Interlocutors Seek Added Partners 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) At the French Development Agency (AFD) Dr. Krasner 
met with Pierre Jacquet Executive Director (Strategy) and 
Chief Economist, and Jean-Marc Chataigner, Director of 
Strategic Planning and Partnerships.  While agreeing with 
much of Krasner,s general diagnosis of the problems of 
delivering technical assistance, Jacquet suggested 
considering changes in the proposed governance structure for 
the partnership.  In particular he said including NGOs and 
Foundations could be very interesting, and would help defuse 
criticism of the proposal on political grounds.  He also 
suggested linking the partnership to current discussion of 
Public/Private Partnerships.  Chataigner suggested that some 
topics would merit the involvement of regional actors, such 
as the Economic Community of West African States, which had 
been active in customs collection and the fight against the 
illegal diamond trade. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) At the MFA,s Directorate General for International 
Cooperation and Development (DGCID) Krasner discussed his 
 
PARIS 00004650  002 OF 002 
 
 
proposal with Jerome Pasquier, DGCID Deputy Director and 
Herve Magro, Deputy Director of DGCID,s Democratic 
Governance Office.  Magro began by noting that the French 
approach to these issues had been shaped by criticism of 
"assistance programs" like France,s once-widespread 
technical cooperation with former colonies that had fallen 
off for financial and political reasons beginning in the 
1990,s.  As a result, DGCID was now thinking about how 
cultural change and social dialogue could be used to create a 
sense of broad local ownership and to foster sustainability 
of development programs.  In particular, they believed they 
needed to move beyond the elites that had historically been 
the principal beneficiaries of French efforts.  Pasquier 
added that local legitimacy would be the key to making the 
Partnership work: politicians would otherwise be tempted to 
avoid responsibility and to blame outside contractors for any 
failures the Partnership encountered.  Perhaps use of 
existing institutions to house the Partnership could help 
provide such legitimacy.  Along these lines, Magro wondered 
how the proposal fit into the Community of Democracies and 
the UN Peacebuilding Commission.  In addition, he strongly 
recommended that beneficiaries -- especially African 
countries -- be consulted for their views. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Embassy Comment:  French interlocutors indicated 
interest in the PBGG and welcomed how it might improve the 
effectiveness of state institutions in developing countries, 
in particular in delivering core social services such as 
health care and education.  Interest however was tempered by 
concern that the PBGG should not be a competitor to the UN 
system and its actors. 
 
¶9.  (U)  S/P delegation cleared this cable. 
 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
STAPLETON