Daily Press Briefing
Statements made by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
(excerpts)
(Paris, March 22, 2006)
[Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
LEBANON
We welcome with great satisfaction the report which the UN secretary-general has just sent to the Security Council on the discussions between the UN legal services and Lebanese authorities about establishing the international tribunal, provided for in resolution 1644. We applaud the excellent work by the two parties in the past three months.
France largely shares the principal conclusions and recommendations of this report, in particular: the choice of a mixed tribunal composed of foreign and Lebanese judges, it being understood that the sovereignty and independence of the Lebanese judicial system would be preserved and the tribunal’s security assured; the establishment of the court outside Lebanon as the majority of Lebanese wish; the conclusion of a bilateral agreement between the UN and the Lebanon to ensure the establishment of the tribunal.
The Security Council is going to study the report and consider the next step. We encourage the UN secretary-general and the Lebanese authorities to move forward in the implementation of its conclusions.
INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON TOURISM SOLIDARITY AND FAIR TRADE
Léon Bertrand, Minister Delegate for Tourism, will head the French delegation to the international forum on tourism solidarity and fair trade that will be held in Tuxtla-Guttierez, Mexico, from March 23 to 26. The minister delegate will speak at the opening of the forum on March 24 on the theme of the appropriation of the tourist economy by local populations.
Organized by the government of Chiapas, the Mexican Tourism Ministry SECTUR and by the French Ministries for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, the purpose of the event is to strengthen the world movement to promote fairer trade in services especially tourism, and for products. Six hundred representatives of about one hundred countries are expected at the forum.
Two and half years after the FITS 2003 in Provence, this forum will expand on the themes of far trade and equitable services. Both themes integrate fully into a sustainable development approach. The forum will enable the organizers of these initiatives such as NGOs, local governments, media, consumer organizations, businesses, bilateral cooperation agencies and UN organizations to enter into partnerships and establish international action plans.
For several years France has supported the establishment of alternative forms to mass tourism which fit better into the local economies and populations of countries in the South and can contribute to development in the least developed countries.
UNITED STATES/FRANCE/NUCLEAR ISSUE
Q - According to declassified US documents made public Tuesday, Washington used satellites, U2 spy planes and Navy ships, intercepted communications and used spies for years to gather information about the French nuclear program, both in France and in the South Pacific. What’s your reaction?
I’ve no comment on the information you mention which concerns intelligence matters.
Q - ETA has just announced a permanent cease-fire. Do you have any comment?
As Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin emphasized during his trip to Madrid on March 13, there is obviously no question of France intervening in a problem that comes under Spanish sovereignty. The prime minister added, replying to a question about the prospect of an end to violence in the Basque country, that it “was a hope for us all that peace might really triumph and that is why we support all actions to this end.”
The prime minister also recalled that cooperation between France and Spain was exemplary in regard to fighting terrorism.
Q - Were you informed about the draft declaration prepared by several EU countries, on Italy’s initiative, implicitly criticizing French economic patriotism? It’s in the Finance Times Deutschland.
I don’t comment on reports in the press.
We went to the European council on March 23 and 24 wanting to rally the Europeans around concrete projects, as the minister and European affairs minister delegate told the National Assembly yesterday: energy, research through the EIB’s 10-billion-euro facility, innovation through the establishment of a European technology institute, training by doubling the credits allocated for the Erasmus and Leonardo exchange programs.
I’d like to remind you also that France is one of the countries most open to foreign investments. It is third in world ranking for welcoming investments. 35% of market capitalization in France comes from foreign capital. One French person in seven works for a foreign group. That doesn’t prevent us from having discussions about industrial policy in certain strategic sectors.
France is championing ambitious positions in the European Union on themes that are of direct concern to the future of the European economy such as strengthening economic governance, harmonization of fiscal and accounting rules, and the establishment of an adjustment fund to deal with industrial restructuring.
Embassy of France, March 22, 2006