Etienne de Poncins has been Ambassador of France to Bulgaria since July, 2007.He has dedicated the greater part of his work to the European integration. He has worked as a councilor in the permanent representation office of France in the EU in Brussels. He has been first councilor of the French embassy in Poland. In 2002 and 2003 he was member of the secretariat of the Convention for the future of Europe and worked in the team of its chairman – ex president of France Valery Giscard d’Estaing – on the compiling and working out of the European constitution.

Before taking on the post of Ambassador to Bulgaria, Etienne de Poncins was director of the cabinet of Catherine Colonna, deputy minister of the French government for European affairs.

He is the author of a number of books, dedicated to the project of a common European constitution. He is married, with three children. He speaks English and Polish. Mr. De Poncins has the ambition to learn to speak Bulgarian as well in the course of his mandate in Sofia.

Your Excellency, during his visit to Bulgaria the French president Nicolas Sarkozy negotiated with the Bulgarian prime minister that by the end of 2007 the long planned deal for Bulgaria to purchase four French corvettes must be finalized. Do you think that such a deal is appropriate right at this moment when Bulgaria needs much more finances from the budget for the social sphere, and much less – for armament?

It has to be borne in mind that this is a lot more than just a deal, this is a partnership. Two operational teams will be formed at this stage – one on the Bulgarian part, and one on the French one. The people in the French group have nearly been nominated and pointed out. I think that things are already underway when it comes to the Bulgarian group. We hope that these two operational teams will meet in November, when a French delegation comes on a visit to Bulgaria. I would like to underline once again that this is a partnership in the military sphere, since this contract does not concern only the purchase of the corvettes. This contract will mark the start of the construction of military ships in Bulgaria. Here not only the corvettes, needed for the Bulgarian military fleet, will be built, but also the Bulgarians will be subcontractors for building ships for the French fleet as well.

During his visit to Morocco Mr. Sarkozy negotiated the sale of a frigate, and what we offer is that part of the construction of this frigate will take place in the ship building plant in Varna. You can see for yourself that this is much more than a simple salepurchase deal. And my answer to your question is: it is the Bulgarian themselves who have to decide what their defence needs are within their commitments to NATO. What we have offered is in response to a social commission from the Ministry of defence. It is only natural that every government must decide on what part of the budget should go to the social sphere and what part of it should go the defence sphere. However, history has proved that when money is invested in the military field, this is always bound to pay off. So it is my opinion that the two investments cannot be juxtaposed – the one in the social sphere and the other in the military field.

In which other spheres, apart from the military one, could Bulgaria and France cooperate, as EU member states?

We offer Bulgaria a strategic partnership. Within the EU we think that Bulgaria has an important role to play. This is the reason why Mr. Sarkozy’s offer was to consolidate this partnership. Apart from the military field, this partnership has to be very active in the energy sector as well, because our two countries have common interests in the field of nuclear energy. We can develop our cooperation in the cultural field as well.

Would you specify the possibilities for a partnership in the field of nuclear power?

The aim is to preserve and develop the nuclear power engineering in Europe. We must work with our European partners in order to convince them that this is the energy of the future. France is interested in the future nuclear power station in Belene, because the French company “Areva” is a partner of the Russian contractor, chosen by the Bulgarian authorities. We would also like to establish a partnership for the successful assimilation of the European funds in Bulgaria. The French companies have good experience in the application of these funds – in the problems related to the waste, water, power engineering, and heating systems.

You mentioned that France is interested in nuclear power engineering being developed in Europe. How would you comment then the closing down of Blocks III and IV of “Kozlodui” nuclear power station?

The closing down of these blocks was laid down in the preliminary contract for the inclusion of Bulgaria in the EU. This was a commitment that had to be kept, as well as all the other commitments in this contract. Also, you know that it was not France that set out this condition, other partners of ours put it forward. It cannot be said at the moment whether this is fair or not, it is just an obligation that must be carried out. The reconsideration of this decision would require the approval of all 27 EU member states, which is highly unlikely. Finally, I would like to remind that Bulgaria has received financial compensation for the sacrifice that it had made with the closing down of the two nuclear power station blocks.

At the recent summit meeting in Lisbon it was decided, with the active support of France, that the euro would be written out in the official documents in Cyrillic in the way that it had been written out so far - evro. However, the decision for the euro to be written out in Cyrillic on the banknotes was put off until some time later – when Bulgarian entered the Euro zone. Do you think that it is a pertinent idea to have a Cyrillic inscription on the banknotes as well?

You know that France has been supporting Bulgaria right from the start concerning the writing out of the word “euro” in Cyrillic. This decision points out to the fact that when Bulgaria has strong arguments, they can be heard in the EU. In fact, your arguments were indeed very good, because the Central European bank had not envisaged that there would be a third alphabet in Europe with the inclusion of Bulgaria in the EU. As we understand that there cannot be different variants when it comes to writing out words in Latin script, so it is understandable that there can be such a change in the writing out of words in another alphabet. And since there is another alphabet of a country that will sooner or later join the Euro zone, it will be really logical to have words in Cyrillic as well, written out on European banknotes.

For instance, if I go to France and go shopping, would the French people accept a banknote on which the word “Euro” is written out in Cyrillic?

There is already a Greek alphabet on the banknotes. I don’t think that the Cyrillic alphabet either would be any problem for the French people.

At the meeting in Lisbon the socalled Treaty for reform of the EU was also signed. Two years ago France was one of the two countries – along with Holland- which rejected the European constitution at national referendums. Do you think that now in the case of a referendum being held in France, the new contract could be accepted, and what is it that makes it different from the unsuccessful European constitution?

These are many questions. My first answer is that there will not be a referendum in France.

As a result of the bitter experience….

President Sarkozy has explained that there will not be a referendum in France. He has been elected by the French people and he has announced beforehand that there will not be referendum. So there is no reason why there should be one. Moreover, the constitution itself is not the subject of decision, but only a contract that amends it. All constitutional elements in the text of the Treaty were removed. What was really left were only the things that will make the institutions operate more efficiently.

What, after all, is the most significant in this contract? The Bulgarian society has not become familiar with it yet.

I have personally worked on the text of the constitution. I was a collaborator of Giscard d’Estaing. What is really important in the present contract is that things should be done in such a way that the EU could function efficiently with 27 member states already and that the European institutions must be changed, that is, the whole mechanism must be changed. For instance, this rotation principle of chairmanship of the European council must be removed – you know that every six months the member states take turns to chair the European council. This system is not good because every six months the chairman of the European council is changed. So, with the new Contract, this practice will be done away with.

You have been in Bulgaria for a short time. What was your first impression of Bulgaria?

It was a nice impression, a positive impression. I saw what the Bulgarian people had done in the last 18 years or so - first to come out of the 50-year communist regime, to build a new and vivid democracy. Then the big efforts, made to get into the EU. Although there is still a lot to be done, I highly appreciate what has already been done so far. And I am convinced that the Bulgarian EU membership will open up a bright future for your country. Bulgaria will receive seven billion euros from this year until 2013. This is a big amount which will change the country. However, the efforts must go on being made, so that the money is assimilated in the best possible way. There is no reason why Bulgaria should not change for the better, as it has happened with Ireland and Portugal, for instance. So, I believe in your bright future. What made me a little concerned and confused when I came over from France, is the low birth rate in Bulgaria. I was surprised and embittered by the fact that the Bulgarians do not want to have more children. My second unpleasant surprise here in Bulgaria was the low turnout during elections. You know that at the presidential elections in France a couple of months ago the turnout was 84 percent. I was surprised here, because Bulgaria has already proved that it is a democratic country.

What, in your opinion, should be done to increase the birth rate? It is not only a matter of personal wish; there are quite a lot of other factors that have an influence on it.

If there is a positive government policy, this could really help. For 50 years now we have had a sound and well-intentioned policy in the field of births. Maybe this is why the indicators in this respect in France are much better when compared to other countries. This actually is a way of thinking and it is often an indicator of the extent to which people believe in themselves.

OK, what is the policy of France? Share the experience.

We are planning to organize a seminar in Bulgaria next year, in order to present the French policy in fostering a higher birth rate. We have taken a lot of measures in this respect. We give a considerable assistance to young mothers so that their children can go to crèches, nurseries, kindergartens, there are a lot of tax relieves, social assistance, bonuses for children, construction of more nurseries and kindergartens so that women could successfully combine their career with the raising of children. Because in no case must they choose between the one and the other. I think that we can really exchange some experience in this field. The other European countries may, of course, have a different policy in this respect, which is also as efficient. We, the French, will only be too happy to share our experience with you, because children are the future of the nation, and on no account should any nation be left without a future.

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