[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 29 (Tuesday, March 17, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E387]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 WORKING TOWARD A COMMON U.S.-EUROPEAN UNION POSITION ON PROLIFERATION 
          ISSUES--THE VIEWS OF UK FOREIGN SECRETARY ROBIN COOK

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 17, 1998

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I had the pleasure to meet with UK Foreign 
Secretary Robin Cook during his visit to Washington in January, 1998, 
on the occasion of the UK Presidency of the European Union during the 
first half of 1998. On March 10, 1998 the British Ambassador sent me 
the text of a February 20, 1998 letter from Robin Cook, in reply to my 
short note of January 22nd.
  Robin Cook's letter outlines the work of the United States and the 
European Union toward a common position on proliferation issues, 
especially with respect to Iran. I commend his letter to you, and the 
text of our correspondence follows:

                                         House of Representatives,
         Committee on International Relations,
                                 Washington, DC, January 22, 1998.
     His Excellency Robin Cook,
     Foreign Secretary, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 
         London SW1A 2AH, the United Kingdom
       Dear Robin: It was a pleasure to meet you last Thursday, 
     January 15, 1998 at your Embassy here in Washington. I 
     enjoyed the opportunity to talk with you, and I benefitted 
     from your comments.
       I commend you for your close attention to the recent 
     developments in Iran and Iraq. Continued close contact 
     between the European Union and the United States on these and 
     other issues will allow us to work constructively both to 
     advance our shared interests and to resolve our differences. 
     Your initiative to try to work on a common position toward 
     proliferation issues involving Iran is particularly useful. I 
     hope we can narrow our gap.
       Thanks again for being so generous with your time. I wish 
     you and your Government success during your EU Presidency 
     period. I hope you will stay in touch on all matters of 
     mutual interest.
       With best regards,
           Sincerely,
                                                  Lee H. Hamilton,
     Ranking Democratic Member.
                                                                    ____



                                Foreign & Commonwealth Office,

                               London SW1A 2AH, February 20, 1998.
       Dear Lee, thank you very much for your letter of 22 January 
     about the need to try to work towards a common European 
     Union/United States position on proliferation issues. I too 
     enjoyed our meeting in Washington.
       The gap between the European Union and the United States on 
     proliferation issues is, I believe, much smaller than many 
     people in Congress think. The level of EU/US co-operation 
     over Iran in particular is already very high. As you know, 
     all members of the EU are active members of all the non-
     proliferation export control regimes: the Missile Technology 
     Control Regime, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Zangger 
     Committee, the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement. 
     As such they apply stringent controls on the export of all 
     dual use goods and missile technology to Iran. In addition to 
     its regular expert level exchanges with the US over 
     proliferation issues, the EU frequently concerts with the US 
     in the margins of the plenary meetings of these regimes to 
     maximise co-operation.
       The real problem with transfer of weapons of mass 
     destruction and ballistic missile technology to Iran does 
     not, as the US State Department's own experts acknowledge, 
     originate in the EU, but with third countries. The EU, 
     working with the US, has been particularly active in applying 
     political pressure on Russia, for example, to stop the 
     leakage of ballistic missile technology to Iran. Tony Blair 
     and other European leaders have raised their concern about 
     this problem directly with President Yeltsin. At the EU/
     Russia Co-operation Council meeting on 26 January, I raised, 
     on behalf of the EU, this question with Yevgeny Primakov. I 
     encouraged him to ensure effective and rigorous 
     implementation of the recent Russian executive order blocking 
     the leaking of weapons of mass destruction technologies. Our 
     Political Director, in his Presidency capacity, followed up a 
     week later at a meeting of senior EU and Russian officials.
       This joint pressure is beginning to have an effect. It is a 
     good example of the way in which transatlantic co-operation 
     over shared areas of real concern about Iran is beginning to 
     bite. EU and US officials are working closely to find other 
     ways of developing transatlantic co-operation over 
     proliferation issues. A meeting of EU/US proliferation 
     experts on 10 February identified a number of other ways in 
     which co-operation might be enhanced. Future meetings of 
     experts as well as senior officials will follow in the coming 
     weeks.
       When I was in Washington, I stressed my determination to 
     use our Presidency of the European Union to work for greater 
     convergence of EU/US policy towards Iran in our shared areas 
     of real concern, Iran's attempts to acquire weapons of mass 
     destruction and its support for terrorism. However, I also 
     made clear that the EU did not believe in the economic and 
     political isolation of Iran and opposed US extra-territorial 
     legislation like the Iran Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), which 
     penalises EU companies engaged in legitimate commercial 
     activity in Iran. We do not believe that economic sanctions 
     against Iran will have a significant impact upon Iran's 
     attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. The best way 
     to hinder these is through effective export controls and 
     joint political action with suppliers of technology, areas in 
     which the EU is already extremely active. My concern is that 
     ILSA acts as a major impediment to our joint efforts to 
     enhance transatlantic co-operation in our shared areas of 
     real concern. In the end, countries such as Iran benefit from 
     our differences. I know this was not the intention of the 
     authors of the Act. I hope you will work with your colleagues 
     to try to find a way through these difficulties, so that we 
     will find it easier to achieve our common goal, preventing 
     Iran acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
       Our Embassy in Washington would be happy to brief you and 
     your colleagues in more detail on the non-proliferation and 
     counter-terrorism measures the EU takes against Iran.
           Yours Sincerely,
                                                       Robin Cook.

     

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