EUROPEAN ELECTIONS: KEY RETURNING MEPS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 07 BRUSSELS 002196

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/ERA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/24/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: EUROPEAN ELECTIONS: KEY RETURNING MEPS

REF: A. A) BRUSSELS 1090


B. B) BRUSSELS 1094

C. C) BRUSSELS 1736

D. D) BRUSSELS 2061

E. E) BRUSSELS 2107

Classified By: USEU POLOFF TODD HUIZINGA, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: With the campaign now in full swing,
almost all of the party lists for the June 10-13 European
elections have been released in the 25 EU member states.
This message describes some of the influential members of the
European Parliament (MEPs) who, based on their party-list
ranking, are likely to be re-elected and affect U.S.
interests in the coming term. END SUMMARY.

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SERIES OF PRE-ELECTION REPORTS
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2. (U) This is the fifth in a series of reports on the
European elections. Ref A provides general background on the
European Parliament (EP) and the European elections; ref B is
a broad analysis of expected campaign issues and election
outcomes; ref C analyzes the possible impact on the EP of
MEPs from the 10 new EU member states; and ref E discusses
the role of U.S.-EU relations in the elections campaign. The
final cable in the series will examine possible post-election
realignment of EP party groups.

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POETTERING FOR PRESIDENT?
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3. (C) Hans-Gert Poettering, 58, is first on the Christian
Democratic Union (CDU) list in the German state of Lower
Saxony, and recognized in Germany as the CDU's top candidate
nationally. An MEP since 1979, he studied law, history and
political science in Bonn, Geneva and at Columbia University
in New York (in 1971),obtaining his doctorate in 1974. He
is an honorary professor at the University of Osnabrueck in
the district he represents. In the EP, Poettering has been
Chairman of the EPP-ED group (Christian Democrats and
Conservatives) since 1999 and is expected to keep that
position for at least the first half of the coming term.


4. (C) Poettering is a strong believer in further EU
integration but has acted pragmatically in attempting to
assure the EPP-ED of a continued plurality in the Parliament.
Earlier this year Poettering and Tory leader Michael Howard
negotiated a deal keeping the euroskeptic UK Conservatives in
the EPP-ED and opening the door to center-right euroskeptic
parties from the new member states.


5. (C) If the EEP-ED comes out of the June elections with its
plurality intact, Poettering will be a prime candidate for EP
President. In meetings with U.S. officials, Poettering tends
to repeat assurances that he is a friend of the U.S. while
chiding his U.S. interlocutors at length on U.S. policy with
which he disagrees, and alleged U.S. unilateralism and lack
of interest in the EU.

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ELMAR BROK: A GERMAN MULTILATERALIST
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6. (C) Elmar Brok, 58, EPP-ED, is first on the CDU list in
the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. After earning a
degree in law and political science, he worked for a short
time as a journalist but quickly moved into politics. An MEP
since 1979, Brok was Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee this term. As one of the EP representatives to the
Convention on the Future of Europe, Brok has actively
contributed to the debate on the proposed EU Constitutional
Treaty, tabling numerous proposals and amendments. His
flamboyant and volatile style (at times, he seems to be
either fast asleep or delivering a passionate discourse,
often peppered with biting criticism) leaves few indifferent.


7. (C) As Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Brok has made
transatlantic relations a priority. He believes that further
EU integration, a Europe that speaks with "one voice" on
foreign and security policy, is necessary for the equal
partnership on which a strong U.S.-EU relationship must
ultimately be based. Both Brok and Poettering (see paras
3-5) are typical German Christian-Democrat "multilateralist"
MEPs, whose inclinations toward the United States waver
between a commitment to good transatlantic relations and an
ideological attachment to multilateralism that tends to
entail a measure of antipathy toward the U.S. In meetings
with U.S. officials Brok has sometimes displayed the
aforementioned volatility, providing his counterparts with
frank and audible exchanges.

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JAMES ELLES: TRANSATLANTIC NETWORKER
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8. (C) James Elles, 54, EPP-ED, is third on the Conservative
list in the South East region, UK. (NOTE: With that position
on the list, we consider his re-election probable, but not
certain. END NOTE.) Elles was educated at Eton College and
Edinburgh University. After a stint in the private sector
for Arthur Young, the predecessor of Ernst and Young, Ellis
worked from 1976-84 in the European Commission. For four of
those years, he was the Assistant to the Director-General for
Agriculture. Elles has been an MEP since 1984. He is the
first British Conservative to have been elected a Vice
President of the EP.


9. (C) Elles founded and is the principal force behind the
Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN),an association that
brings together members of Congress, MEPs and the American
and European business and academic communities to "build
transatlantic bridges." Elles is largely responsible for the
TPN strategy for strengthening the transatlantic partnership,
which contains formulations and recommendations that are
gaining momentum on both sides of the Atlantic. The foremost
example of this is the proposal to build a fundamentally
barrier-free "Transatlantic Market," concentrating first on
financial services and capital markets, civil aviation, the
digital economy, competition policy and regulatory
cooperation. Elles also founded the European Ideas Network
(EIN),an EPP-ED-sponsored pan-European network for exchange
of views on the challenges facing the EU. EIN events have
attracted leading figures in the European center-right.
Elles is an expert networker on both sides of the Atlantic,
well connected in the U.S. Congress. He is a persistent
salesman of his ideas on transatlantic relations, and skilled
at motivating people to support his projects.

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GRAHAM WATSON: AMBITIOUS LIBERAL DEMOCRAT
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10. (C) Graham Watson, 48, ELDR, is first on the Liberal
Democrat list, South West region, UK. Born and raised in
Scotland, Watson earned his degree in modern languages. He
speaks four European languages and is a trained interpreter.
From 1983-87 Watson was Head of the private office of Sir
David Steel MP, then Leader of the Liberal Party. Before
joining the EP, Watson worked in London and Hong Kong for the
Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. An MEP since
1994, Watson succeeded Pat Cox as the Chairman of the ELDR
group (European Liberal Democrat and Reformist Party) when
Cox became EP President in 2002.


11. (C) Under Watson,s leadership the ELDR quickly became a
noticeably more vocal critic of U.S. policy. Watson has
repeatedly spoken out on U.S. policy on many issues, calling
again and again, for example, for trials for Guantanamo
detainees and for U.S. support of the International Criminal
Court (ICC). He also is a primary advocate of increasing
data protection measures in legislation, which has inhibited
cooperation with the U.S. on biometrics and sharing of
Passenger Name Records (PNR) or airline passengers. On the
other hand, Watson shares the U.S. view on the China arms
embargo and has been one of the strongest opponents of the
efforts of some member states to lift the EU embargo. Watson
has played a central role, along with European Commission
President Romano Prodi and French Union for French Democracy
(UDF) leader Francois Bayrou, in the possible formation,
after the June elections, of a new centrist, federalist EP
party group. The group would include the ELDR, members of
the French UDF, Prodi's Italian center-left Marguerita Party,
and several regional parties. Watson is personable and
attentive in meetings. He is ambitious and articulate.

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TERENCE WYNN: POSSIBLE EP PRESIDENT
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12. (C) Terence (Terry) Wynn, 57, PES, third on the Labour
list, North West region, UK. From 1962-74, Wynn was in the
royal navy, starting as an engineer apprentice and leaving as
a seagoing marine engineer. From 1974-79, he was a works
engineer, engineer surveyor and shipyard manager. He worked
as a training executive for the next ten years, earning a
Master's degree in manpower studies and industrial relations
in 1984. Still active as an itinerant Methodist preacher,
Wynn is a member of the Christian Socialist Movement and
author of the book "Onward Christian Socialist." An MEP
since 1989, Wynn is Chairman of the Budgets Committee, which
oversees a large part of the EU budget. Wynn is rumored to
be in the running for EP President, although some
interlocutors say there may be significant opposition to
Wynn's candidacy. Wynn has been informative and responsive
in meetings with U.S. officials; a Wynn EP presidency would
be relatively good news for the U.S.

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MARTIN SCHULZ: BERLUSCONI-BAITER TO PES LEADER?
-------------- --

13. (C) Martin Schultz, 48, PES, is first on the Social
Democratic Party (SPD) list in Germany. After finishing
school, Schulz took a two-year apprenticeship in bookselling.
In 1982 he opened his own bookstore, which he ran for twelve
years. During that period he was also active in local
politics. In 1987, he became mayor of his hometown of
Wuerselen, at age 31 the youngest mayor in the state of
Nordrhein-Westfalen. Elected MEP in 1994, Schulz is Vice
Chairman of the PES group and within that, Chairman of the
German SPD group. According to our interlocutors, Schulz is
currently the favorite (but not a shoo-in) to become PES
Chairman in the coming term. Schultz made headlines
throughout Europe in July 2003, when his baiting of Italian
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during an EP debate led
Berlusconi to shoot back that Schultz reminded him of a Nazi
concentration camp guard -- a comment for which German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder demanded an apology. Berlusconi
said later he was joking, claiming according to some press
reports that he was referring to Schulz, resemblance to
Sergeant Schultz of the TV series &Hogan,s Heroes.8

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HANNES SWOBODA: ALTERNATIVE PES CHAIRMAN?
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14. (C) Hannes Swoboda, 57, PES, first on the Social
Democratic Party list, Austria. After receiving an M.A. in
economics and a doctorate in law, Swoboda worked for the
Vienna Chamber of Labor (Arbeiterkammer) from 1972-86,
working especially on financial economics, environmental
policy and municipal policy. From 1983-96 he held various
political offices in Vienna. Swoboda has been an MEP since

1996. During the 1999-2004 term, he was a member of the
Foreign Affairs Committee, Vice Chairman of the EP Delegation
for Relations with Southeast Europe and member of the EP
Delegation for Relations with the Palestinian Legislative
Council. A Vice Chairman of the PES group, Swoboda is a
frequent and articulate participant in EP debates on foreign
affairs. He is especially interested in the Balkans and
active in EP deliberations on the EU Stabilization and
Association progress of countries of the former Yugoslavia.
Swoboda is an outspoken opponent of U.S. policy in Iraq and
of U.S. "arrogance," as he once put it in a meeting with a
U.S. official, regarding the International Criminal Court.
Although very blunt in his criticism, Swoboda is also
pragmatic and willing to work with the U.S. on issues before
the EP that affect U.S. interests. Swoboda may become
Chairman of the PES group if Martin Schulz cannot garner
enough support (see para 13).

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EMMA NICHOLSON: ANTI-ADOPTION ENIGMA;
SUPPORTER ON IRAQ
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15. (C) Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, 62, ELDR,
second on the Liberal Democrat list in the South East region,
UK. (NOTE: Her position on the list does not guarantee her
re-election. END NOTE.) A patron of over 50 charity
organizations, Nicholson was long-time Director of
International Development and Director of Fundraising for the
Save the Children Fund (1974-85). She is also a World Health
Organization (WHO) Envoy for Health, Peace and Development.
Before joining the Liberal Democrats in 1995, Nicholson was
Vice Chairperson of the Conservative Party (1983-87). She
was elected Conservative MP in the House of Commons in 1987.
Since 1997, she has been a Life Peer and Member of the House
of Lords. An MEP since 1999, Nicholson was Foreign Affairs
Committee Vice Chairperson this term.


16. (C) EP Rapporteur on Romania this term, Nicholson is best
known to U.S. officials as an implacable foe of inter-country
adoptions of Romanian children. She believes the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child forbids inter-country
adoption except as a very last resort, and she maintains that
group-home-style institutionalization is a preferable
alternative. Nicholson is also greatly interested in the
Islamic world, and is founder and President of the AMAR
International Charitable Foundation that assists Marsh Arabs
and refugees. Unlike most of her ELDR colleagues, Nicholson
supported U.S.-UK military action in Iraq. In both the
positive and negative sense, Nicholson is a crusader on human
rights issues. She has won -- deservedly -- both respect and
mistrust for her single-mindedness. Interlocutors should
speak clearly and at appropriate volume: deaf in one ear,
Nicholson tries, sometimes unsuccessfully, to read lips.

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DANIEL COHN-BENDIT: CHARISMATIC GREENS LEADER
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17. (C) Daniel Cohn-Bendit, 59, second on the Greens list,
Germany. Born in France and schooled in Germany, the current
member of the French Greens group is running on the German
party list this time. After having returned to France to
study at the University of Nanterre, Cohn-Bendit became a
leader of the May Revolution in Paris in 1968. Known then as
"Dany le Rouge" (Danny the Red),he was expelled from France
after the May riots. Cohn-Bendit then established himself,
along with current German FonMin Joschka Fischer, as an
anarcho-revolutionary activist and publisher in Frankfurt. In
1984 Cohn-Bendit joined the German Greens party, where he,
again with Joschka Fischer, became a prominent "realist" and
opponent of the "eco-fundamentalist" wing of the Greens
party. An MEP since 1994, Cohn-Bendit has co-chaired the
Greens/Free European Alliance group in the EP since 2002.
His fame and charisma has brought the Greens more impact and
visibility than their numbers would lead one to expect. In
February of this year, Cohn-Bendit was a driving force behind
the founding of a "European Green Party," and, although he is
second on the German list because Greens custom demands a
woman lead the list, Cohn-Bendit is the acknowledged leading
figure in the Greens campaign throughout Europe.

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CAROLINE JACKSON: MEASURED AND THOUGHTFUL
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18. (C) Caroline Jackson, 57, EPP-ED, second on the
Conservatives list in the South West region, UK. Jackson
studied classics and history and earned a doctorate at Oxford
with a thesis on politics in the nineteenth century. She is
married to UK MP Robert Jackson. An MEP since 1984, she was
Chairman of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer
Policy Committee during this term. Articulate, intelligent
and soft-spoken, Jackson has been a key interlocutor for U.S.
officials in Brussels on a wide range of issues from GM foods
to the Kyoto Protocol and the proposed Chemicals Directive
(REACH). Like most of her Conservative compatriots, Jackson
is critical of the Brussels tendency to over-regulate; at the
same time, she has made it a priority to investigate member
states' poor implementation of EU law. Jackson made the news
this spring when, after having succeeded in getting
British-style breakfast on the EP cafeteria menu, she
complained that "the scrambled egg tastes (like) recycled EU
documents...thanks to European food safety rules...." She
said she would follow up with Food Safety Commissioner David
Byrne.

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SARAH LUDFORD: GUANTANAMO CRUSADER
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19. (C) Baroness Sarah Ludford, 53, ELDR, first on the
Liberal Democrat list, London, UK. An economist, barrister
and a life peer in the British House of Lords since 1997,
Ludford was elected MEP in 1999. She was an active member of
the Citizen Rights committee this term, where she championed
measures to protect victims of trafficking in persons, as the
U.S. has, but consistently opposed the U.S. on Guantanamo,
PNR and other policies she believes violate human rights.
During a November 2003 visit to the U.S., the Washington Post
quoted her on her views on the U.S. government: "We think
(Colin Powell) is our only hope....He's the only one in the
Bush administration who has some sanity about him. The
others are completely mad." Ludford told us the quote was
accurate, but claimed she did not know she was speaking on
the record. The de facto EP lead on Guantanamo, Ludford
organized a public hearing on the issue to which she invited
relatives of EU-member-state citizen Guantanamo detainees.
The hearing garnered extensive TV, radio and print coverage
-- Ludford alienates even many of her EP colleagues with her
outspokenness and lack of discretion, but she is effective in
bringing attention to her issues.

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ERIKA MANN: KEY PRO-U.S. SOCIAL DEMOCRAT
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20. (C) Erika Mann, 53, PES, eighth on the SPD list, Germany.
A business consultant by trade, Mann has been an MEP since

1994. In the EP, Mann focuses on industry and trade policy,
information society and telecommunications, and transatlantic
relations. She is a co-founder of the Transatlantic Policy
Network (TPN) with James Elles (see paras 8-9). Mann is very
active in TPN and is a key proponent of strong transatlantic
relations in the EP. She is key precisely because she is an
influential MEP in the German SPD -- the largest national
group within the Party of European Socialists (PES) and a
group not currently known as particularly pro-American. In
fact, her pro-U.S. stance has earned her the occasional
nickname of "Am-Erica Mann." She comes from the German state
of Lower Saxony (although eighth on the SPD list nationally,
she is the top Lower Saxony candidate),where her SPD comrade
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder hails from -- she knows
Schroeder and is well connected to his many close SPD
associates from Lower Saxony.

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ANDERS WIJKMAN: INTERLOCUTOR ON DEVELOPMENT
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21. (C) Anders Wijkman, 59, EPP-ED, first on the Christian
Democrat list, Sweden. An MEP since 1999, Wijkman has had an
illustrious public affairs career. He has been a member of
the Swedish parliament (1971-78); Secretary General of the
Swedish Red Cross (1979-88); Head of the Swedish Society for
Nature Conservation (1989-91); and Assistant UN Administrator
and Head of Policy at the UNDP (1995-97). Since 1998,
Wijkman has held the title of Ambassador in the Swedish
Foreign Ministry. He is a member of the Club of Rome, the
World Academy of Art and Science and the Swedish Royal
Academy of Sciences. An MEP since 1999, Wijkman specializes
in environment and development issues, with a particular
focus on the Kyoto Protocol, renewable energy sources,
HIV-AIDS in developing countries, and population policies.
Wijkman has effectively pursued dialogue with U.S. officials
on development assistance (in which the EP plays a key role).
He has been a key supporter of the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). In meetings with
U.S. officials, he has tempered the harsh attacks of his
Development Committee colleagues on the USG decision to cut
funds to UNFPA.

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KLAUS-HEINER LEHNE: BUSINESS REGS POWERHOUSE
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22. (C) Klaus-Heiner Lehne, 46, EPP-ED, sixth on the CDU list
in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. (NOTE: His
re-election is probable, but not certain. END NOTE.) A
lawyer by trade, Lehne studied physics, philosophy and law in
Freiburg, Bonn, Cologne and his hometown of Duesseldorf.
After holding several offices in local politics in
Duesseldorf, Lehne was a member of the German parliament
(Bundestag) from 1992-94. An MEP since 1994, Lehne has been
rapporteur for corporate law, harmonization of contract law,
harmonization of civil and commercial law, and money
laundering. In all of the above areas and in company law in
particular, Lehne's influence is felt throughout the EU
institutions; he was a key player in the successful
German-led effort to dissipate the reach of the European
Commission's takeover proposal. He will be heavily involved
as rapporteur or EPP-ED leader in the EP's consideration this
fall of new Commission proposals for post-Enron corporate
governance measures and FATF-related anti-money laundering
legislation. Although not always fully briefed on U.S.
positions in these areas, Lehne remains open to dialogue with
USG interlocutors and participated earlier this year in a
roundtable dinner for SEC Chairman Donaldson.

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PETER SKINNER: FINANCIAL SERVICES EXPERT
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23. (C) Peter Skinner, 44, PES, first on the Labour list in
the South East region, UK. After post-graduate study of
labor law, industrial relations and education, Skinner worked
as a trade union organizer, university lecturer, and in
industrial relations. An MEP since 1994, Skinner is a member
of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. He is also
in the EP Delegation for Relations with the U.S., in which he
leads on financial affairs and regulatory cooperation. A
recognized expert in the EP on those issues, Skinner was EP
rapporteur on the "Transparency Directive," which established
regular reporting requirements for companies listed on EU
stock exchanges. In meetings with U.S. officials, Skinner
has shown a genuine desire to increase U.S.-EU regulatory and
financial services cooperation, and creativity in moving that
agenda forward. He knows many in the USG who work on those
issues, including Congressman Michael Oxley, Chairman of the
House Committee on Financial Services and co-author of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act (which established investor protections
and corporate governance standards).

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ENRIQUE BARON CRESPO: CURRENT PES CHAIRMAN
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24. (C) Enrique Baron Crespo, 60, PES, third on the Spanish
Socialist Labour Party (PSOE) list, Spain. After studying
law, Baron Crespo worked as a university lecturer and lawyer
specializing in labor law. An anti-Franco activist as a
young man, Baron Crespo was a Deputy in the Spanish
parliament (Cortes) from the fall of the Franco regime in
1977 until 1986. From 1982-85 he was Spanish Minister of
Transport, Tourism and Communications. Baron Crespo became
an MEP when Spain joined the EU in 1986. He has served as EP
President (1989-1992) and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Committee (1992-95). He was Chairman of the PES group during
the last term, but is not expected to return to that position
after the elections. In meetings with U.S. officials, Baron
Crespo has been personable and open, but his stances on key
issues are often strongly opposed to those of the U.S.

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GEOFFREY VAN ORDEN: VERY BRITISH EUROSKEPTIC
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25. (C) Geoffrey Van Orden, 59, EPP-ED, first on the
Conservative list in the Eastern region, UK. A specialist on
defense, Van Orden served in the British Army from 1964-94
and retired as a Brigadier General. His military jobs
included member of the directing staff of the German Armed
Forces Staff College (1985-88),Chief of Staff Berlin
(1988-90),and Head of International Military Staff
Secretariat, NATO Headquarters (1991-94). From 1995-99 Van

SIPDIS
Orden worked in the European Commission, covering foreign and
security policy and counter-terrorism. An MEP since 1999,
Van Orden was Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee
this term. He is a strong Atlanticist and supporter of NATO,
and opposes all EU defense or security initiatives; he
believes that putting the EU label on military initiatives is
politically motivated, ignores military realities and
ultimately represents an attempt to compete with NATO. An
ardent euroskeptic, Van Orden opposes British adoption of the
euro and the EU constitutional treaty.

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JAMES NICHOLSON: HEAD OF DELEGATION TO U.S.
--------------


26. (C) James Nicholson, 59, EPP-ED, first on the Ulster
Unionist Party list in Northern Ireland, UK. The only MEP
from his party, Nicholson belongs to the British Conservative
group in the EPP-ED. It is difficult to say if his party
will get enough seats to guarantee his re-election. As the
2002-2004 Chairman of the EP Delegation for Relations with
the U.S., he has been the EP lead in the biannual
Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue (TLD) meetings between
MEPs and members of the U.S. Congress. Nicholson has also
organized a number of digital videoconferences between MEPS
and members of Congress on issues of transatlantic interest.
Nicholson is a farmer by trade (one of his sons runs the
family farm, which Nicholson likes to work on visits home).
Informal and down-to-earth in meetings, Nicholson prefers
being called "Jim." Nicholson is a generalist on
transatlantic issues -- he neither possesses nor professes
expertise in foreign affairs -- but he is an effective
cheerleader within the EP for good relations with the U.S.
He does not expect to remain U.S. Delegation Chairman during
the next term, but he may still be helpful in disseminating
U.S. views on key issues to EP colleagues.

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DIRK STERCKX: CONSENSUS SEEKER
--------------


27. (C) Dirk Sterckx, 57, ELDR, first on the Flemish Liberal
Democrat (VLD) list, Belgium. After earning a degree in
Germanic philology, Sterckx taught secondary-school Dutch,
English and German in the Antwerp region. From 1975-1999
Sterckx was a TV newsman, and was anchorman on several major
Flemish TV newscasts. An MEP since 1999, Sterckx is Belgian
Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt's "alternate" on the VLD list
for the June EP elections -- Verhofstadt nominally tops the
VLD list, but he will "give his seat" to Sterckx after the
elections. Sterckx has been an active member of the EP
Delegation for Relations with the U.S., taking the lead in
the Delegation's meetings with U.S. Congressional
counterparts on transportation issues such as the Container
Security Initiative. Sterckx is personable, soft-spoken and
a hard worker. His political influence is greater than his
quiet demeanor may lead one to believe -- on February 16 he
was named VLD Chairman, and will serve in that function until
the Flemish regional and European elections on June 13.

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KEY MEPS NOT RUNNING
--------------


28. (SBU) The following key MEPs are not running for
reelection:

-- Pat Cox (Ireland ) ELDR): President of the EP (ref D).

-- Christa Randzio-Plath (Germany ) PES): Chairperson of
the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.

-- Dietmut Theato (Germany ) EPP-ED): Chairperson of the
Budgetary Control Committee.

-- John Corrie (UK - EPP-ED): member of the Development and
Cooperation Committee and Vice Chairman of the Joint
Parliamentary Assembly to the African, Caribbean and Pacific
States.

-- Jannis Sakellariou (Germany ) PES): PES coordinator in
the Foreign Affairs Committee.

-- Ilkka Suominen (Finland ) EPP-ED): Vice Chairman of the
EPP-ED group and a former Minister of Trade in Finland.

-- Arie Oostlander (The Netherlands ) EPP-ED): As EP
Rapporteur on Turkey, he drafted several reports that were
critical of what he saw as lack of Turkish progress in
fulfilling the conditions for EU accession.

FOSTER