Diplomat of the old school

Date: 18/04/1996

AFTER seven harrowing years of arduous negotiations in the Uruguay Round of world trade talks, the European Union heralded a new era of peace and prosperity.

Confident of having won what it wanted at the negotiating tables and with a world trade agreement ready for signature, the Union prepared to set about consolidating its gains and leading its trading partners towards new paths of global harmony.

The man it chose for the job was Jean-Pierre Leng.

Described by all who know him as “the quintessential diplomat”, Leng was to bring a new image of the EU to the Geneva headquarters of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the chrysalis which soon shed its battered cocoon for the butterfly wings of the World Trade Organisation.

Leng arrived in Geneva in March 1994, replacing the Union's former GATT delegation chief Tran van Thinh, who had helped to fashion the global deal reached the previous Christmas.

“Tran hacked out the Uruguay Round, Leng was the man to smooth it over afterwards,” said an aide to Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan.

In Geneva, WTO officials are conscious of living in a new era - one they describe as being utterly different to that of the Uruguay Round days.

They draw an equally marked distinction when describing the envoys who have represented the EU there in recent years.

Universally described by colleagues as “charming and reassuring”, Leng is contrasted to “the hyperactive, scheming Tran”. The latter was both loved and hated, but even colleagues who were very fond of him describe his dealings as “Byzantine”. He struck good deals, but in the new climate, a different approach was needed - and Leng has provided just that.

“He's regarded with respect here,” said a senior WTO official. “He's very dignified - a diplomat of the old school.”

That impression is perhaps helped by the fact that Leng arrived too late to participate in the infamous slugging matches of the Uruguay Round, but his colleagues doubt that he would have been the type to roll up his sleeves and get dirty.

“He's very subtle in his dealings,” said the WTO official. “He fits the role of a diplomat in a way most people around here don't. This is a trade arena, often a rough and brawling operation, and the people involved aren't diplomats. Leng stands out in that sense.”

Though all WTO envoys must negotiate sensitive deals with their trading partners, Leng's job is probably more difficult than that of most of his colleagues who represent the interests of only one nation.

The EU's envoy must chart a course which takes account of the interests of all 15 member states (which his predecessor often referred to as his “mothers-in-law”) and then take a common position to the world negotiating tables.

“He has to make sure the member states speak with one voice, he has to get along with big trading powers, he has to make sure he doesn't fall out with the Americans, and he has to play his cards well with all the new trading issues and membership applications,” said the Brittan aide.

“He has to show that this strange complicated beast (the EU) is not only capable of being coherent, but of steering towards issues way down the road.”

Leng has had years of preparation for this job. Working in the Commission's directorate for transatlantic affairs in the late 1980s, he dealt with thorny trade issues such as a bitter dispute with Washington over beef hormones. “He made a big contribution,” said a US official who worked with him at the time. “He was legitimately interested in resolving the issues. He wasn't giving away the Community's position, but he was trying to solve the problems and not to stonewall.”

Issues such as the beef hormone dispute were probably relatively easy for someone who had already spent four years as the EC's representative for textile and steel negotiations - which, along with agriculture, is one of Europe's most sensitive sectors. During those years, Leng renegotiated a multifibre agreement with some 20 countries. He described the frequent all-night meetings as a “total nightmare”.

Leng had already spent most of the 1970s in Washington, first as a counsellor in charge of trade affairs and then as deputy head of the EC's delegation. For his excellent work there, Leng was sent to Paris as the Community's ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), where he spent five years in the early 1980s.

Leng is now involved in planning the WTO's first ministerial meeting, to be held in December in Singapore, which is aimed at cementing the organisations' roots in world trade and blessing a new generation of regional trading blocs.

The WTO is a slow-moving mammoth, with a weighty bureaucracy like any other international institution, its ambassadors often thousands of miles from their capitals and wary of making false moves.

Trust between the players, therefore, is crucial, and by all accounts Leng has won that. “He's not distrusted by anyone,” said a trade official. “That he doesn't have a negative image is almost more important than having a positive image, especially because he is French.”

The EU's trading partners could be forgiven for worrying about the fact that the top EU officials sent to GATT headquarters have been French for a number of years. But, say colleagues, Leng has succeeded in convincing them that he is not pursuing a “French agenda”.

One senior US official at WTO headquarters said Leng's directness had impressed the Americans and, because he was perceived as being honest, his nationality added weight to his words.

“If he can be straightforward and French, he has greater credibility,” he commented. “He is very honest in his dealings with colleagues and partners. When Jean-Pierre Leng tells you something, it's the true EU position and he's not pulling a fast one. It is refreshing and an attitude very much appreciated by the US.”

Japan's WTO envoy, Ambassador Minoru Endo, also finds his Union counterpart a pleasure to work with. “He defends the EU position, but he does it with tact,” said Endo, adding that although the two found themselves on opposing sides on some issues, “we have a close relationship”.

Leng's four years in Tokyo as EU ambassador to Japan have helped him to forge “smooth and friendly relations” between the EU and Japan since moving to the WTO. This was illustrated last summer when the two took the same side against the US after Washington threatened sanctions against Tokyo unless it opened its automobile market to outside competition.

Both say it was principles which bound them together, but Endo suggests that Leng's approach “may have influenced it”.

In Tokyo, says the Japanese envoy, Leng not only dealt with government officials, but also took the trouble to get to know the business community. “He really got in touch with the Japanese,” Endo says admiringly.

Leng's personality is another aspect of his character that colleagues remark upon. The tall, debonair, well-groomed diplomat has pleasantly surprised colleagues with his amiability. “He knows protocol and hierarchy perfectly, but he never talks down to anyone,” said a colleague. “He has an aristocratic look, but you'd never feel any haughtiness in his easy manner.”

Colleagues in Geneva who have been his guests say he entertains well but, even at home, is perfectly proper. The host, gliding between pieces of antique furniture and a striking collection of old globes, remains as refined in private as he is in public.

Apart from one hint of spice - the sports car in which he likes to take spins around Geneva - most who know Leng agree that “he keeps his persona fairly well hidden behind his diplomatic personality”. By his own account, he has little time for a personal life. Asked about his hobbies, he answers: “Until now, work. But I'm hoping to take up golf.”

Leng, who turns 65 in September, will retire then but wants to continue promoting EU-Asia links, which have become a personal passion.

But the stepping stones he has laid in the past two years should help the WTO become the arbiter for new trade areas - and the Union to be perceived not as a world trade bully, but as a gloved and guiding hand.