pu
int Support
HKD 2./4.
All Heads of Post
Under-Secretaries
Heads of Department
(EC)
must
17/12
RESTRICTED
Moditens, or.
From: Sir David Gillmore Date: 14 December 1992
J16/12 B
the Banner Jones
lo keep
wind in He interventionalisation" context.
COOPERATION BETWEEN BRITISH AND GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTRIES AND EMBASSIES
1.
At the Anglo-German Summit held on 11 November, the two Foreign Ministers agreed a Declaration on Cooperation between Foreign Ministries and Embassies. A copy of the Declaration
is attached.
기2
2. Many of you will already know of and be contributing to the cooperation which we already enjoy with the Germans at many levels. In the period since the Leipzig Heads of Mission Conference of October 1991 we have made substantial progress in strengthening and extending that cooperation. The two Foreign Ministers have now agreed that we should aim to take that process further, on the basis as before of reciprocity and non-exclusivity.
3.
You should now give careful thought to the scope for, and best means of, developing closer links with your German colleagues. The possibilities can be expected to vary considerably from post to post and subject to subject. Account needs to be taken of areas which are for one reason or another sensitive, where we shall want to continue to keep our cards close to our chest. But they should be the exception, not the rule. The evidence so far is that in many areas there is a good deal of scope for increasing the operational transparency between the two Diplomatic Services, to considerable mutual advantage. Over policy towards Russia, for instance, we are now albeit still on a selective basis increasingly exchanging notes, telegrams and submissions. We have already gained an insight into German thinking and strengthened the German tendency to consult us.
4. The advantages for us in this are clear: to be developing our foreign policy in close cooperation with our largest fellow EC member state gives us significant opportunities to shape the emerging foreign policy of the Twelve on terms favourable to British interests. The Germans for their part have expressed great admiration for the professionalism we bring to the management and development of foreign policy, and are extremely keen to work in close harness with us. While their resources are in some areas greater, there are others where the reverse is true: the Auswärtiges Amt, for instance, has no Research and Analysis Department, and benefits considerably from the closer links between the relevant German experts and RAD which are now being developed.
.../5.
RESTRICTED
13