[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 49 (Monday, December 11, 1995)]
[Pages 2118-2123]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 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

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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 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

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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 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 700 
American troops in the NATO force to go into Bosnia? And also, the 
Bosnian Serb military leader, Mladic, says that--is demanding changes in 
the peace agreement, and there are also some other questions being made 
by the French military----
    President Clinton. Can you to repeat the question?
    Q. ----military commander in Sarajevo as well as 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. That is--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,

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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. Trade

    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 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

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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 air bases 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.
    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, in his capacity as 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

[[Page 2123]]

President referred to President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia and Sir 
Leon Brittan, Vice President of the European Commission.