    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [December 3, 1995]
    [Pages 1835-1840]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With European Union Leaders in Madrid,
    Spain
    December 3, 1995

        Prime Minister Gonzalez. Thank you very much. It is our pleasure to
    welcome to Madrid President Clinton as well as the President of the
    Commission. And as you have seen, we have just finished signing the new
    transatlantic agenda, along with an action plan. Thanks to this document
    and this summit between the European Union and the United States, we
    hope to be taking a new step forward, a quantitative leap forward, and
    to undertake new common action. This is enshrined in the documents we
    have just signed.
        For the Spanish Presidency, I would like to state that this was one
    of our priorities. We had a meeting in Cannes in June, and we decided to
    prepare an agenda for the next years until the end of the century. Since
    then we have been working very hard, and the United States high-level
    group as well as the Commission and Spain have worked very efficiently.
    And as you will see clearly from these documents, we have a clear-cut
    vocation to work together from the political point of view in promoting
    democracy and human rights as well as from

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    a commercial point of view, an economic point of view, and strengthening
    the bonds on both sides of the Atlantic as well as our struggle against
    terrorism and drug trafficking and organized violence.
        We have common goals, and this morning we also spoke about
    converging actions such as the peace plan that was signed in Dayton with
    regard to Bosnia. I would like to point out that, keeping in mind our
    responsibility as the President of the European Union and the presence
    of Spanish troops and Spanish nongovernmental organizations in Bosnia,
    but I would like to point out how significant it is that the United
    States, that President Clinton has decided to send a large contingent of
    troops. And I think that this is of utmost importance for international
    solidarity. And this peace plan that will be signed on the 14th of
    December will become a lasting peace that will outlive the fight between
    the two communities of Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia.
        So I would like to publicly thank President Clinton, his effort and
    the appeal he has launched to the American people to participate
    wholeheartedly in the peace plan. And I would also like to say that this
    new transatlantic plan is open to other countries on both sides of the
    Atlantic, such as Canada, Norway, and Iceland. And I would like to make
    this as broad an agenda as possible.
        And now I would like to give the floor to Mr. Santer. And Mr.
    Clinton will be having the closing remarks.
        Mr. Santer.
        President Santer. Presidents, ladies and gentlemen, I would just
    like to add some comments on what President Gonzalez has said. In my
    inaugural speech to the European Parliament on January 17th this year, I
    emphasized the importance of transatlantic links. I stressed that the
    EU's commitment should be reaffirmed, and I concluded that I was
    personally in favor of a transatlantic treaty. So today, I believe, is
    an historic moment for transatlantic relations, and that I think for
    three reasons.
        Firstly, because it shows that Europe and America now have the means
    and the will to provide the joint leadership that the world so urgently
    needs. We will not lead by threatening or excluding our partners, we
    will lead by example. And take Bosnia. You, President Clinton, have
    shown such an example in Dayton, Ohio. Europeans and Americans are
    taking the courageous decision to send troops to enforce a peace in
    Bosnia. This shows that Europe and America can act together to promote
    peace, stability, democracy, and freedom. Moreover, we have already
    committed $2 billion to help the victims, and we are ready to give more
    in order to rebuild that shattered country. I am confident that our
    partners will help us share the burden.
        Secondly, this is an historic moment for the people of Europe and
    America. This is not just an agenda for politicians and civil servants.
    We are determined to fight side by side in order to tackle those issues
    that most affect the lives of ordinary people. And together, we will see
    that the drug traffickers and criminals have nowhere to hide within our
    borders. Together, we will fight poverty and disease, and we will bring
    our citizens themselves closer together, students, academics,
    professionals, artists, and others. We want to ensure that our common
    cultural heritage remains the glue that binds our two continents
    together.
        And finally, today we are making Europe and America more open for
    business, more open to each other, and more open to the world. If it's
    made in Europe, it must be good enough for America and vice-versa.
    That's what the new transatlantic marketplace is all about.
        Thank you.
        President Clinton. Thank you very much. Let me begin by thanking
    Prime Minister Gonzalez for hosting this meeting and for the very
    energetic leadership that he has provided to the European Community and
    to the partnership between the European Community and the United States.
    I want to thank President Santer for his consistent, firm direction to
    the Community, and both of them for working with me over the last 6
    months to launch this new partnership between the United States and the
    Community.
        As the cold war gives way to the global village, we have new
    opportunities and new security threats. We know what those security
    threats are. We see them every day, the ethnic and religious hatred, the
    reckless aggression of rogue states, the terrorism, the drug
    trafficking, the weapons of mass destruction that are increasingly
    threatening us all.
        We know that poverty and job insecurity and barriers to open trade
    limit the reach of prosperity for all. We know that too many people
    remain vulnerable to disease and underdevelopment around the world. We
    know now that these threats respect no borders and that they

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    demand the kind of concerted action that we adopt today with our agenda
    and action plan.
        Until now, the relationship between the United States and the
    European Union has largely been one of consultation. Today we are moving
    beyond talk to action. These joint initiatives in our agenda will
    directly benefit citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.
        I'd like to highlight just a few of the areas in which we have
    agreed to work more closely together; some have been mentioned already.
    First, we will together lead a global effort to organize the postwar
    reconstruction of Bosnia. After 4 years of war, the Bosnian leaders have
    agreed to peace. But now the Bosnian people need the support of the
    international community to revitalize their economy, to rebuild their
    lives, in short, to realize the promise of peace.
        I have just come from visiting our troops in Germany who are
    training and who will soon travel to Bosnia. They are well-prepared,
    well-equipped, well-trained for this mission of peace. I am very proud
    of them. And I want to say a word of thanks to the Prime Minister and to
    the people of Spain for their contributions, for the people from Spain
    who have already done so much in Bosnia and those who will join us in
    securing this peace mission.
        Next, we will create a transatlantic marketplace in which we
    continue progressively to reduce the barriers to trade, commerce, and
    investment. The worldwide GATT agreement was a very important step
    forward. But our advanced economies can do better, can grow faster. We
    aim to create more good new jobs on both sides of the Atlantic and to
    reinforce the world trading system that benefits every nation.
        Third, we will continue and increase our support for the Middle East
    peace process.
        Fourth, we will join in a new initiative to combat international
    criminals, terrorists, and drug traffickers. As President Santer says,
    they should have no place to hide.
        Fifth, we will strengthen our environmental cooperation in important
    and specific ways. We will work to reduce lead exposure, a major threat
    to the health of all our children; to provide countries with
    sophisticated environmental technologies that are developing their own
    economies; and to better coordinate our disaster and our development
    assistance to the neediest people around the globe.
        All these actions will further strengthen the transatlantic
    community, united around democracy, free markets, and respect for human
    rights. Our destiny in America is still linked to Europe. This action
    agenda makes it clear that we will remain as firmly engaged with Europe
    in the post-cold-war era as we have for the last 50 years. It also makes
    clear that our partnership is evolving, that we recognize new challenges
    but that we have to meet them together.
        Finally, let me say that we in the United States are very pleased to
    welcome the nomination of the Spanish Foreign Minister, Mr. Solana, to
    be the next Secretary General of NATO. He is one of Europe's outstanding
    leaders. We believe he will be a firm hand and a strong voice for NATO.
    And we offer you our congratulations, sir.
        Prime Minister Gonzalez. Thank you. And now we will have questions.
    Please tell us who you are asking the question of.

    Bosnia and NATO Forces

        Q. Good morning. A question to Prime Minister Gonzalez as to whether
    President Clinton has asked for a greater Spanish contribution in Bosnia
    of a military nature in NATO, more than the 1,200 people who are there--
    if you've spoken about this in the general framework.
        And also a question for you, Mr. Clinton. In view of the changes in
    Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall, do you think that it is
    fitting for Spain to become part of the central military command
    structure in NATO?
        Prime Minister Gonzalez. With regard to the first question, which
    was directed to me, we have not yet established the contribution of each
    country. Right now, we have in Spain 1,200 people, plus the naval
    contingent and logistic support, which is about 2,400 people. So at
    present, we are going to keep up this effort, but of course, we would be
    willing to speak to all our allies to make sure that this is enough or
    if we need more.
        Mr. President, sir.
        President Clinton. If I might say that the most important thing is
    that we have enough troops and the right troops to perform the defined
    military mission. And we estimate that we need about 60,000. The United
    States has committed about 20,000; the British, about 13,000; the
    French, I think between 9,000 and 10,000. We have over two dozen other
    countries who want to contribute. Spain has made a very, very valuable
    contribution already, including the NATO contribution with the Spanish
    pilots which

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    should not be overlooked. And so from my point of view, I think we'll be
    able to work together and achieve the kind of force we need.
        With regard to the NATO question, I don't think that's a question
    for me to answer. That is a question that we will have to work through
    with NATO. I can only tell you this, that our American pilots and our
    American military personnel have been immensely impressed with the work
    they did through NATO in Bosnia, with the flying that we both did
    together and in coordination. And I can only say that I am very grateful
    for that.
        Q. Two questions, Mr. President. Have you given the order for the
    700 American troops in the NATO force to go into Bosnia? And also, the
    Bosnian Serb military leader, Ratko Mladic, is demanding changes in the
    peace agreement, and there are also some other questions being raised by
    the French military----
        Q. [Inaudible]--start over.
        President Clinton. I can repeat the questions.
        Q. ----military commander in Sarajevo as well as by the Bosnian
    Government. Is this treaty in trouble? Is it going to have to be
    changed?
        President Clinton. Let me answer the first question first. I have
    authorized the Secretary of Defense to order the deployment of the
    preliminary troops, the people who have to do the preparatory work, to
    Bosnia, as I said I would as soon as I was convinced that the military
    plan was appropriate. And so I have done that, and those people will be
    going into the area over the next couple of days. As I've emphasized to
    the American people and the Congress, that's a few hundred of our forces
    necessary to set up communications networks and things of that kind.
        The answer to your second question is no, I don't think the treaty
    is in trouble, and no, I don't think it should be renegotiated.
    President Milosevic made strong commitments which he will have to
    fulfill to secure the support of the Bosnian Serb leaders for this
    agreement. And I would remind you that, of course, the Bosnian Serbs
    aren't happy with everything in the agreement; neither are the Croats;
    neither are the Muslims and the others in the Bosnian Government. That's
    what--when you make a peace agreement, not everybody is happy with it.
    So only those who were at the table have fully reconciled themselves,
    perhaps, to that, although a lot of the Bosnian Serb political
    leadership have endorsed this treaty.
        So we expect, we fully expect that President Milosevic will take the
    appropriate steps to ensure that this treaty will be honored as it is
    written and that we will not have undue interference with implementing
    it. And we feel very strongly on that point.

    European Union-U.S. Relationship

        Q. Briefly, for President Clinton, with regard to the Dayton peace
    agreement, has this also changed the relationship between the United
    States and the European allies? It seems that there were several
    differences of opinion, politically and militarily, but also from a
    trade point of view. And I would like to know if in this document, which
    talks about a possibility of avoiding a trade war--and we have here Mr.
    Kantor and Mr. Brittan, who spent nights and nights trying to avoid this
    type of war--so I would like to know if in this new transatlantic agenda
    you have something against this.
        And then a question for the Spanish Prime Minister. Does the fact
    that Spain will have the general secretariat here, does it mean that we
    will be in the central military command structure?
        President Clinton. Let me say, first of all, this document commits
    both the European Union and the United States to take further steps to
    open our markets to each other. Mr. Brittan and Mr. Kantor worked very
    hard to hammer out the differences between Europe and the United States
    so that we could get the world GATT agreement, which is the biggest
    trade agreement in history and a very good step forward.
        But we believe, given the development of our economies, that we can
    and should do more in our relationships with each other. They have
    committed themselves to do that, and there are already some action items
    on the agenda. So I feel that you will see less tension and more
    cooperation.
        And in terms of the Dayton peace treaty, I think that that
    reflects--the positive European response there reflects a very high
    level of cooperation between the United States and Europe in foreign
    policy and security matters.
        President Santer. I would only add that there is no--that in the
    transatlantic treaty or declaration we signed, there are some items to
    deal with--also with what we are calling now the new transatlantic
    marketplace. We can reduce

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    our tariff barriers inside between the United States and the European
    Union.
        We have also to stress our multilateral agreement between the world
    trade organizations. I think there are many things to do. We make a very
    good job in the Uruguay round. We can say that now more than $500
    billion are flowing through goods and so on through the results of the
    Uruguay round. So we are not struggling together, but we are cooperating
    together, and there's a big change.
        We are coming now from a consultation procedure to a joint action
    procedure and that--new spirit is underlying this new transatlantic
    declaration.

    NATO Secretary General

        Prime Minister Gonzalez. Very briefly, I would like to start by
    saying that I would like to publicly acknowledge the confidence
    deposited in Javier Solana, the Spanish Foreign Minister, in electing
    him as the Secretary General of NATO, in view of the tremendous
    challenges we have with regard to Bosnia in the short term and the
    broadening and the enlargement of the European Union to the Eastern and
    Central European countries in the long term.
        Now, this is not a change for the Spaniards. It's merely progress of
    the alliance. We are going to be a loyal ally in everything we do and in
    everything that happens in the alliance. So we have to take things on
    board as they are, and I have full confidence in Javier Solana that he
    will undertake to carry out his responsibilities in the best possible
    manner. And I thank everyone again for voting him.

    Bosnia and the Budget

        Q. Mr. President, you've spent now almost a week on this side of the
    Atlantic, and you're about to get back to Washington. How, if at all,
    has this experience in Europe affected your thinking in regards to
    selling--Bosnia once to get back to a skeptical Congress and--American
    public, especially--and also the spill-over, if any, on how you will
    deal with the December 15th looming deadline with the budget? Is there
    any relationship between Bosnia and the budget?
        The President. Let me answer the first question, and then I'll
    attempt to answer the second one. [Laughter] I know I can answer the
    first one.
        I have seen again, from the address I made to the Parliament in
    London, to the people in the streets in Belfast and Derry, to the
    teeming throng in the streets of Dublin, to the Irish Parliament, and
    then on to a meeting with Chancellor Kohl as we met with the American
    troops and then coming here and having my meeting with Prime Minister
    Gonzalez and President Santer today, the importance of American
    leadership and American partnership in Europe.
        You know, we fought two World Wars here. Most of our people came
    from here. We stayed here for 50 years after World War II, first to deal
    with the cold war, and then after the cold war was over we left our
    troops and many of our airbases here in Europe. And what we are seeing
    in Bosnia is an affront to the conscience of human beings everywhere,
    right in the heart of Europe. All the things that we need to do, all the
    things we talked about today--the need to build stronger economic ties,
    the need to confront the other security problems we have--none of that
    is going to happen as it should unless we deal with this problem in
    Bosnia, to try to stop the murders and the rapes and the butchery that
    has occurred. And I feel more strongly about that.
        If you look--also, I think the American people should know that we
    have a unique responsibility at this moment in history. After the cold
    war, the United States was left with a certain superpower status and a
    certain economic standing that that imposes on us great
    responsibilities, along with the opportunities we have.
        You know, when those people turned out in the streets in Ireland--
    all those young people, Protestant and Catholic alike--demanding the
    right to be heard on behalf of peace and their future, responding to an
    American President, it was because of everything America has stood for
    over 200 years, not just the initiatives of our administration and the
    things I have personally done to promote peace there but everything we
    represent. And I would hope that because we have the chance to do good
    things and because we have the chance to do it in a way that minimizes
    our risks and relies on our strengths, that the American people and the
    Congress would respond.
        Now, on the budget. I do not expect Congress to link Bosnia and the
    budget, if that is the implication of your question. I do not believe
    they would do that. I think they understand that these are--both issues
    are too important.

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        The lesson I draw as an American from this trip in terms of the
    budget negotiations is that if we're going to be strong abroad, we have
    to be strong at home. And the policy we are following is working. The
    economy is better than it was 3 years ago. We're making progress on our
    social problems. We should not take a radical detour from the
    disciplined direction we have gone to grow the economy, to expand the
    middle class, to shrink the under class. And we should do nothing that
    would send the signal to the world that we are less successful
    economically, that we are promoting inequality, that we are being less
    humane and less caring and less sensitive as a country to our own people
    within our borders. That is what I know.
        We have to continue--the power of the United States goes far beyond
    military might. What you saw in Ireland, for example, had not a wit to
    do with military might; it was all about values. And we should do
    nothing at home within our own borders that undermines our ability to
    project those values to the rest of the world.
        Prime Minister Gonzalez. Thank you. I have promised firmly to keep
    on schedule, and we've reached the end. Thank you.

    Note: The President's 109th news conference began at 11:50 a.m. at the
    Moncloa Palace. The President met with Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez of
    Spain, President of the European Council, and Jacques Santer, President
    of the European Commission. Prime Minister Gonzalez spoke in Spanish,
    and his remarks were translated by an interpreter. In his remarks, the
    President referred to President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia and Sir
    Leon Brittan, Vice President of the European Commission.