AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH ENVIRONMENT COMMISSIONER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 004949

SIPDIS

STATE PASS EPA (STEPHEN JOHNSON, AUER, HAZEN)
STATE FOR OES/PCI, EB/ESC/IEC, EUR/ERA, E, G
WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP, CEQ
COMMERCE FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
PARIS FOR NSF (SUSKIN)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/15/2014
TAGS: PREL SENV EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH ENVIRONMENT COMMISSIONER
WALLSTROM



1. (C) Summary. Incoming European Commission Vice Present
(and Former Environment Commissioner) Margot Wallstrom told
Ambassador Schnabel November 15 that the main focus of her
new vice presidential position in charge of the EU's
intra-Europe and global communications strategy will be
improving Commission ties to the Council, European
Parliament, and national parliaments. She noted with
interest the President's recent statements on reaching out to
Europe, and suggested that the USG could have the most impact
by taking steps to project a positive environmental agenda,
create forward movement in the Middle East peace process, and
tackle the number of trade disputes that color the otherwise
extremely positive overall economic relationship. (Notably,
she did not suggest a need for European actions.) The two
also discussed an agreed outcome on methyl bromide in the
upcoming Prague meetings, and REACH. End Summary.


2. (U) Ambassador met November 15 with Commissioner Margot
Wallstrom amid packing boxes, as she prepared to move from
her current position as Commissioner for Environment to her
future job as Commission Vice President in Charge of
Communications and Institutional Issues.

On Her New Role
--------------


3. (C) Wallstrom noted that the details of her new portfolio
still need to be fully developed. Her main responsibilities
will concentrate on improving communications and
institutional relations with the European Parliament, the
Council, and national parliaments. She will also lead
Commission efforts to reach out to civil society throughout
Europe, and to put a human face on EU activities for average
European citizens. Wallstrom said this summer's European
Parliament elections had been a wake-up call for the
Commission that they needed to do more to counter growing
European hostility toward politics and politicians on the
continent, and especially toward the overall European project.


4. (C) The constitutional treaty will be one of her first
priority tasks. Wallstrom said it would "inappropriate" for
the Commission to play a major role in pressing for
ratification in the 25 Member States, especially not in
countries where referenda will be held. Instead, she
suggested that national governments must take the lead, since
they know local circumstances best. For instance, she said
in her native Sweden, "federalism is an f-word." For Germans,
in contrast, federalism is the constitutional framework.
The Commission's role, she said, will be to prepare
information on the constitution, get it out in all languages,
and perhaps also to provide informed speakers who can
contribute to national discussions of the treaty. Wallstrom
expected that the referendum in the UK will prove the most
difficult, but suggested that success was hardly assured in
France or other countries as well.

US-EU Relations
--------------


5. (C) Wallstrom welcomed the Ambassador's presentation on
President Bush's commitment to reach out to Europe. She
urged in particular that the President signal his commitment
to seek multilateral solutions to global problems. Europe
does not expect major policy reversals in areas like the
environment, she said. Instead, it will be important to look
for areas where we can cooperate, such as research and
development, or some of the international conventions under
consideration. As a follow-on to Johannesburg, Europe would
also welcome more active US involvement in sustainable
development efforts within the OECD, she suggested.


6. (C) Wallstrom suggested three major areas where US
engagement can help change prevailing attitudes in Europe:

-- Projecting a positive environmental agenda by indicating
US commitment to progress on sustainable development (even if
Washington remains reluctant to join Kyoto);
-- Creating forward movement in the Middle East peace
process; and
-- Tackling the number of trade disputes that color the
extremely positive overall economic relationship across the
Atlantic.

On the New Commission
--------------


7. (C) Wallstrom said she did not expect major policy changes
to come from the new Barroso Commission. The Commission is
like an oil tanker, she suggested: difficult to change
direction, and slow to maneuver. Still, there was no doubt
that the Barroso Commission was slightly more "liberal" (in
the European sense) in its economic outlook. But she
emphasized that it must be clear that the Commission
represents all of Europe, and cannot be a reflection of only
one major political stream of thought in Europe.


8. (C) One major policy challenge for the next Commission
will be integrating the EU's new role in security and foreign
policy, especially by preparing the way for the shift toward
a new Foreign Minister for Europe and an integrated "external
action service." The second key priority will remain the
Lisbon agenda of competitiveness and growth.

Environment, Methyl Bromide, REACH
--------------


9. (C) Wallstrom repeatedly hit on the theme that the US and
EU need to find ways to work together cooperatively on all,
and especially environmental, issues. She wants a "fresh
start", she said, and believes that she sees in Europe a "new
climate of cooperation" that will allow a greater readiness
to listen to what the US has to say. In that context, she
offered help in our reaching a compromise solution on a
methyl bromide critical use exemption (CUE) at the Montreal
Protocol meeting in Prague next week. She said that we
should be able to find a reasonable solution to US needs and
EU desire to reduce CUEs. She will encourage Environment
Director General Catherine Day to telephone US counterparts
ahead of Prague in order to try to develop a compromise. (We
recommended that Day phone James Connaugton in the Council on
Environmental Quality.) Wallstrom also is ready to support
the idea of developing a High Level Environmental Dialog.
She commented that the EU's new chemicals regime, REACH, is
likely to go into force as planned in 2007 but with a
flexible approach to chemicals testing and enforcement.
Wallstrom's comments were positive and cooperative, but, as
she transitions to her new job as vice president, she said
that she preferred to leave detailed discussion of REACH and
other issues to her successor as Environment Commissioners.

SCHNABEL