ICAO CAEP 6: ITALIAN VIEWS

UNCLAS ROME 000354 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR EB/TRA (WALKLET); FAA FOR AEE-1 (BURLESON); FAA BRUSSELS FOR AEU-1 (FELDMAN); MONTREAL FOR US ICAO MISSION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON SENV IT AVIATION SUBJECT: ICAO CAEP 6: ITALIAN VIEWS REF: SECSTATE 11541 (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶1. (SBU) SALVATORE MINEO, ITALY'S CAEP REPRESENTATIVE AND ENAC (NATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY) DIRECTOR FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES, MET JANUARY 30 WITH SENIOR FAA REPRESENTATIVE AND SCIENCE COUNSELOR. MINEO IS UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN CAEP 6 DUE TO ILL HEALTH, BUT WILL BE REPRESENTED BY PAOLO CIANCAGLIONI, ITALY'S DEPUTY REPRESENTATIVE AT ICAO. DURING THE SECOND WEEK OF CAEP 6, PAOLO DRAGO, A NOISE EXPERT FROM ALITALIA, WILL ALSO BE PRESENT AS A TECHNICAL ADVISOR. ENAC REGULATORY DIRECTOR ALESSANDRO CARDI MAY ALSO SEND ANOTHER ENAC OFFICIAL TO CAEP 6, BUT NO ONE HAS YET BEEN NAMED. ¶2. (SBU) BALANCED APPROACH: MINEO EMPHASIZED THAT ITALY WAS VERY CLOSE TO THE U.S. POSITION ON THE BALANCED APPROACH. HE PARTICIPATED IN A RECENT EXCHANGE OF VIEWS WITH EU CAEP REPRESENTATIVES IN LONDON, AND FELT THAT THERE WAS BROAD SUPPORT FOR ADOPTING THE GUIDANCE MATERIAL. ITALY HAS ALREADY IMPLEMENTED THE BALANCED APPROACH, AND ENAC IS WORKING TO EXPLICITLY INCORPORATE IT INTO ITALIAN LEGISLATION. ¶3. (SBU) NOX: MINEO STATED THAT THE EU WOULD LIKELY SUPPORT NOX REDUCTION TARGETS IN THE 20 PERCENT RANGE. THERE WAS A SENSE IN EUROPE THAT PUBLIC OPINION WOULD BE STRONGLY IN FAVOR OF MORE STRINGENT REDUCTIONS, AND THAT 10 PERCENT TARGETS -- EVEN AS A STARTING POINT -- WOULD RISK PUBLIC OPPOSITION. MINEO EXPECTED SOME TYPE OF U.S./EU COMPROMISE TO BE REACHED AT CAEP 6, SO LONG AS THERE WAS A STRONG COMMITMENT TO NOX REDUCTION. ¶4. (SBU) GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS: MINEO STRESSED THAT THE EU AND U.S. POSITIONS WERE RATHER DIFFERENT ON THIS ISSUE, AND THAT THE ITALIAN/EU POSITIONS WERE RELATED TO THE KYOTO PROTOCOL. HE ADDED, HOWEVER, THAT THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF AIRLINES MADE PROSPECTS OF EMISSIONS CHARGES UNLIKELY IN THE NEAR FUTURE, BUT SUCH CHARGES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AN OPTION FOR THE DISTANT FUTURE. ITALY WOULD PREFER VOLUNTARY MECHANISMS, BUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SUCH MEASURES WOULD NEED TO BE STUDIED AND DISCUSSED. MARKET-BASED MECHANISMS WOULD DEFINITELY NEED FURTHER STUDY OF POTENTIAL LEGAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL IMPLICATIONS. SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME00354 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED