Speech by the Ambassador of France in Australia, Mr Michel Filhol, on 17 March
2011
Defence & Security lunch – ASPI
Introduction
The twenty-first century will be perhaps that of Asia; it will not be that of the
decline of Europe, nor his values, nor his influence, nor its capacity for action.
The twenty-first century should be that of a truly multi-polar world. Europe will
have a role to play in accompanying changes linked today to the Chinese (and Indian)
power and tomorrow to that of Africa. That is part of its present ambition in the G20.
In this context, the strategic interest of Australia is certainly to continue deepening
its relations with its Asian neighbors, but certainly not at the expense of its American and
European partners.
Why ?
Strategic interests of Australia are also in the Near and Middle East and Africa. In
this region, the imbalances, frustrations, expectations rise to tensions. Europe, even
more than NATO or the United States, has developed tools and develops a longstanding culture of civil-military stabilization adapted to these situations.
Other strategic interests of Australia naturally designate France as a partner. In
the South Pacific, France's presence is contributing to the creation of an «arc of
stability», plus the role played by the EU in the development of these island economies
(France contributes for 19% in the European Programme EDF). The defense industry in
Australia has for many years already forged strategic partnerships with the French
defense industry.
In my remarks, I shall therefore endeavor to explain why the strategic Australian
interests in medium and long term have linked part with the strategic interests of Europe
in general, France in particular.
I - France, within Europe and NATO, but also by itself is engaged in areas of
importance for Australia
France, like other nations must answer a recurring question : how to act in the
service of peace and stability in the world, how to act in the service of human rights and
the rule of law when the use of force is necessary ? How to help those who suffer the
worst oppression born of dictatorships and misery - or both? By two complementary
tools : the European Security and Defence Policy and the Atlantic Alliance.
1.1 The Europe of Defence increasingly active in the field of civil-military crisis
1.1.1 EU is a key player in civil-military crisis involving the United Nations (in
Africa) as in the Balkans (Kosovo) for example.
The Europeans have set goals of capacity, they have a common strategic vision
and means of civil action capable of relaying the action to restore peace, to rebuild the
devastated states, reconciliate torn societies, and sustain security. The Europe of
Defence has made considerable progress over the last 10 years; it has become a reality,
however imperfect, but which henceforth counts. France seeks to improve it.
The first European military operation took place in the Balkans, in Macedonia in
2003. It was a highly successful operation, but nobody remembers : the War of
Macedonia has not occurred. Since then, many have succeeded in Europe but also in
Africa : in 2003 the first autonomous operation of Europe in the Democratic Republic of
Congo at the request of the United Nations; in 2004 the stabilization operation ALTHEA
in Bosnia-Herzegovina (it continues today); in 2006 support operation to the MONUC to
help stability for elections; in January 2008 EUFOR CHAD/RCA : 3700 troops on the
ground, a total of more than 10000 European soldiers took turns in Chad, finally, since
December 8, 2008, in the Gulf of Aden naval operation ATALANTE, first naval operation
of the ESDP off Somalia, to fight against piracy.
The European Security and Defence Policy is not only military. The largest civilian
mission in Kosovo ESDP «EULEX KOSOVO» has been strong over 2000 people.
During the French presidency of the EU in 2008, the Europe of Defence has also made
progress in its construction. We agreed a target at 27 : to be able to plan and run
simultaneously :
=> 2 major stabilization and reconstruction operations with a civilian component
supported by 10000 men for 2 years
=> 2 fast-response operations using EU Battlegroups of 1500 men each
=> 1 emergency evacuation of European nationals in ten days
=> 1 mission of surveillance and maritime interdiction
=> a civilian-military humanitarian assistance
=> and a dozen civilian missions, including one major that is to say up to 3000
men.
Do these advances of the European Union come into competition with the Atlantic
Alliance ? In fact, they are complementary. The Atlantic Alliance and the European
Union promoted the same values, the same vision of stability in the world.
1.1.2 All recent developments have shown that the European Union and NATO are
not only increasingly engaged together in the same theaters : Kosovo : EULEX
and KFOR, ISAF and EUPOL Afghanistan, etc., but their missions are mutually
indispensable.
Specifically, the arrangements so-called «Berlin Plus» in March 2003 lay the
foundations of the NATO-EU operational cooperation in the field of crisis management
by giving the EU access to the collective assets and capabilities of NATO for operations
led by EU (and in which NATO as a whole is not engaged). To this end, arrangements of
«Berlin Plus» is based on :
- an agreement covering the exchange of classified information between the EU
and NATO. It is worth remembering that Australia has signed in 2009 an agreement of
this type with the EU;
- guaranteed access for the EU to the planning capacities of NATO and the
provision of capabilities and common assets of NATO.
These «crisis management operations» have been identified by the EU since June 1992
whether 4 months after signature of the Maastricht Treaty : humanitarian and rescue
missions of nationals, peacekeeping missions, combat missions for the management of
crises and restoring peace.
The Lisbon Treaty (signed in 2009 - the new institutional framework for EU-)
extended these missions to joint actions in the field of disarmament, missions to provide
advice and assistance in military operations in post-conflict stabilization, and fight
against terrorism.
The Europe of Defence is asserting more and more. France will take its place.
The proximity of Australia in particular with NATO within the framework of ISAF is
already a reality and should be enshrined in the new concept of partnership developed
by NATO. Proximity to the Europe of Defence could legitimately be considered, in
particular in civil-military area (management and crisis resolution).
1.2 France has a presence and an expertise which overlaps several Australian
zones of interests
1.2.1 The Close and the Middle East
France and many countries of the near and the Middle-East, as well as of North
Africa have tied close relationships since centuries. It is with this spirit in mind that
France launched the Union for the Mediterranean area. And it is this body that the
extraordinary European Council of March 11th 2011 proposed to become one of the
places for a renewed dialog between the two banks of the Mediterranean Sea in view to
accompany the transitions towards democracy, of the Arab countries.
This engagement of France in favor of a constant dialog of civilizations is
resolutely opposed to the vision of a “shock of civilizations”. As several French Islam
experts have claim it for close to a decade (Olivier Roy, Gilles Kepel), political Islamism
and its extremist version, does not constitute the only alternative to dictatorship in the
concerned countries. On this basis, fertile dialogs are possible and have already begun.
At the same time we have to manage the risks, threats and challenges.
France is today one of the first partners for defence of the 6 Member States of the
Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (Training of the elites, reinforcement
of the cooperation agreements with Qatar or UAE).
With others, and in particular Australia, France shares the concerns related to the
Iranian nuclear question. Iran is a large country, heir to a secular civilization. This
country has its entire place in a stabilized and alleviated regional environment. In this
context Iran has the right to reach the benefits of civil nuclear energy, key of economic
development. But under conditions which will guarantee, under the control of the
international community and the IAEA, nuclear non-proliferation.
1.2.2 Africa
Africa constitutes since a long time a priority for France, and not only for the
government aid to the development.
France does not spare its diplomatic efforts to solve the conflicts and the political
crises which emerge in this continent, within UN frame or in connection with some
African States. In fact, today, France and its European partners give the priority to
African mediations (ad hoc committees, from Regional Authorities or from the African
Union).
France intends to answer the will of the African countries to manage by
themselves the security of their continent. With the United Kingdom, France is at the
origin of an initiative for the reinforcement of the capacities of the African armies to
enable them to take part in the peacekeeping operations under the aegis of the United
Nations. This program, named RECAMP, was adopted at the Africa- France Summit of
the Louvre in 1998. Since 2006, this program was taken over by the EU.
=> Within this framework, the mobilization of the Australian know-how (civilmilitary interaction in particular) developed in recent operations like Timor for example,
would be particularly welcome. We support that, in particular for the benefit of some
schools in countries of the Sahel area (Mali for example), dedicated to the peacekeeping
operations training.
1.2.3 The Asia-Pacific region
Asia as a whole constitutes in several ways a major strategic issue for France.
According to the orientations given by the French White Paper for Defense and the
National security released in 2008, the French Defense acknowledge the growing weight
of this area in world strategic balance and endeavours to remain present and active for
regional safety.
As a Naval power, including its strategic nuclear component, as Asian Nation by
its territories in the Pacific and as Member of the Armistice Commission of the Korea war
in 1954, France is resolutely committed in favor of the stabilization of this area.
The French presence shows our engagement in the safeguarding of the strategic
balance in Asia: naval forces in the Indian Ocean, bilateral relations with all of the States
of the area, long standing strategic dialogs at the politico-military level with Japan, South
Korea, Singapore and Australia, and more recently with Vietnam, Malaysia and
Mongolia for instance.
Is it needed to remind that France is the only European country really present in
the Southern Pacific with more than one half-million of French citizens on three
territories (New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna). Several security
partnerships already link our two countries Australia and France : in the South of the
Indian Ocean, where our maritime search and rescue area are neighbour, we already
share common patrols (more exactly officers of one countries are embarked on a patrol
ship of the other nation); In the Pacific area, the FRANZ agreement organizes a pooling
of our means, including soldiers, to answer in a coordinated way to natural disasters
which occurs in the Island states of the area.
=> As France acknowledges the Australian expertise on political and strategic
realities in this area of the world, it would be of our interest to carry out exchanges of
know-how: on one side of the perspectives on Africa and the Close and the Middle East
region, on the other hand on the South-East and North-East Asian region.
II - France, a reliable partner
2.1 France, key partner of the traditional allies of Australia
2.1.1 The relationship France - United States
France has fully taken the measure of what the U.S. is for Australia: the only ally,
the strategic partner of choice, guaranteeing a balance in the region that was favourable
to peace and prosperity.
For our part, our relations with the United States are closer than many think and
are not restricted to the alliance.
The spirit of this alliance was clearly expressed in simple response to the attack
of September 11, 2001. France has therefore called for the implementation of Article 5 of
the North Atlantic Treaty, the very provision triggering off a military response to an
aggression. It was the first time since 1949. This was the legal basis (even before the
relevant resolution of the United Nations) of the early operations in Afghanistan.
This closeness is reflected through statements and decisions of the President of
the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy. Thus, the President has said forcefully and
repeatedly, how France was a staunch ally of the United States, faithful but demanding,
of course. And he has shown it in deciding the reintegration of France into the NATO
military command being effective since 2009.
2.1.2 The relationship France - United Kingdom
France and the UK are natural partners in regards of security and defence.
Permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations, allies in the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), members of the European Union and states
equipped with nuclear weapons, our countries have in common interests and
responsibilities.
In this context, during the 31th Franco-British summit held in London November
2nd, 2010, the President of the French Republic and the Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom have decided to structure the military cooperation and the strategic dialogue
between the two parties but also to develop the cooperation in the field of nuclear
deterrence, along with other conventional partnerships. This cooperation is enshrined in
the dual framework of the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance as explicitly
provided in the Treaty signed on this occasion between the two countries.
This must allow France and the UK to jointly cope with new challenges such as
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles, terrorism and cyberattacks, and those which threaten upon maritime and space safety. The aim is to ensure
that our forces can act together, to get better value for money on our investment in
defence; to extend the ambitions of our joint programs of defence equipment and to
stimulate a close industrial cooperation.
France and the United Kingdom intend to assume all their responsibilities in
regards of security and defence. Our two nations represent half of the defence budget of
European countries and two thirds of the expenditure in research and technology. They
are among the most active contributors to the operations in Afghanistan and other crisis
areas. Also, they are among the few countries to have the ability and willingness to
assume the most demanding military missions. Today, a level of mutual confidence,
without any precedence in our common history, has been reached.
Thus, France and the UK do not foresee any situation where the vital interests of
one of the two nations could be threatened without the ones of the other being as well.
This cooperation will benefit our allies and contribute to the strength of the
Atlantic Alliance, the European Union and our partners around the world.
2.2 The symbiosis between our national defence industries
The French defence industry comes from a historical commitment to preserve our
independence and our sovereignty. This determination does not conflict with either our
full membership in the Atlantic Alliance or the one in the European Union.
Today, under the leadership of the respective States, but also under the change
of the strategic context and of the economic realities, profound European rapprochement
began.
The French defence industry seeks particularly to offer to States wishing to equip
themselves with defence equipment from National and European industry more than a
simple cession.
If we consider Australia, most of the major French defence industries have made
the choice, supported by the French State, to accompany the supplies of equipments
through technology transfer and the creation of Australian manufacturing sites in
Australia.
The objective is clear: it is, indeed, a partnership that is renewed and intensified
contract after contract. The examples are already numerous:
- Thales Australia is now present in 35 locations including Sydney, Melbourne,
Fremantle;
- Australian Aerospace is in 14 locations including Melbourne and Sydney
- The SAFRAN-SAGEM group and its company TURBOMECA in Sydney
- EADS, in Sydney and Melbourne
- EUROTORP, in Fremantle
In total, it is nearly 5000 Australian skilled jobs that have been created.
Several equipments have retained the attention of the Australian Government: the
Tiger helicopter ARH, the NH90 helicopter MRH, the multi role tanker planes MRTT, the
MU90 torpedoes, and we hope there will be more.
With a lot of sens, this strong industrial cooperation was accompanied by a
strengthening of military relations in the operational cooperation of our respective armed
forces through the sharing of knowledge, through cross-training including, when
possible, through exchanges in operation.
Both partners find its benefit, and perhaps for Australia, wining time for the
commissioning and the operational use of these equipments.
Finally, I want to mention the more frequent meetings and a substantial strategic
dialogue that are the evidence and the driver of the proximity of our two defence forces.
Conclusion
Not to conclude, I would like to say in one sentence that in this multi-polar world
of today and of tomorrow, Australia has a real strategic interest to cooperate closely with
France in regards of defence, security and defence equipment (and through this
cooperation and the one with the UK to the one of the Europe of defence).