ITALY ON EU GAERC/COUNCIL AGENDA: TURKEY WILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 004682

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2014
TAGS: PREL ETTC KPAL UP CO HR CG RW IT EUN
SUBJECT: ITALY ON EU GAERC/COUNCIL AGENDA: TURKEY WILL
RECEIVE A DATE, SO WILL CROATIA, BUT CONDITIONAL; CHINA
ARMS EMBARGO STAYS - FOR NOW.

REF: STATE 258831

Classified By: POL MINISTER COUNSELOR TOM COUNTRYMAN. REASON: 1.5 (B)(
D)

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Enlargement - Turkey and Croatia
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1. (C) The MFA's Director for EU Integration, Michele
Quaroni, told poloff that consensus was building around a
Council conclusion with an unconditional date to begin
Turkish accession negotiations. He was not sure whether the
date would be during the first or second semester of 2005.
France may ask the Council to consider delaying until the
second semester so as not to complicate its referendum on the
EU Constitution in the spring of 2005. Quaroni said the
sticking point was Cyprus. Nicosia wants Ankara to agree to
full normalization of relations, with recognition of the
"Republic of Cyprus." Turkey is refusing to submit to any
further conditions not contained in the Copenhagen Criteria.
Quaroni said that the Presidency was working hard on a
compromise "defacto recognition" in which Turkey would commit
to recognizing the Republic of Cyprus on or before the date
negotiations begin. He was hopeful that PM Erdogan and PM
Balkenende could make progress on the issue when they met in
The Hague on December 9.


2. (C) On December 6, DCM drew on reftel points to brief MFA
Political Director Terzi on the US view that Croatia should
improve cooperation with the ICTY before EU accession talks
begin. Following up with Poloff, Quaroni and Balkans Office
Director Andrea Orizio predicted that the Council conclusions
would reflect fairly closely Italy's views on Croatian
accession. Both agreed with reftel concerns that too
positive a statement on Croatia would send the wrong signal
on PIFWCs to Zagreb. Italy would advocate for a date to
begin EU accession negotiations with Croatia. However,
Orizio predicted the Council will make clear that the EU will
reexamine Croatia's level of cooperation with the ICTY at a
later date, and will suspend the negotiation start date if
that cooperation is unsatisfactory. Italy fully supports
that strategy.

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UKRAINE
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3. (SBU) EU CFSP Director Luigi Mattiolo said that Italy was
encouraged by the close cooperation between the US and EU on
the Ukraine crisis. He believed that the US and EU
coordination on-the-ground and speaking with one voice
brought the situation back from the brink of civil war.
December 26 was a bit earlier than Italy had hoped for the
next round of elections. Nonetheless, Italy will fully
support a robust election monitoring mission through the
OSCE. The GAERC will likely condition any statement on the
EU's "Neighborhood Policy" to take into account Kiev's
behavior in the run-up to and during the election.

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CHINA ARMS/CODE OF CONDUCT
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4. (C) Mattiolo said that Council language on the China Arms
Embargo would reflect the conclusions of the December 8
EU-China Summit - both sides would work towards creating
conditions under which the embarg could be lifted. Those
conditions would incude "significant" progress on human
rights He predicted that the growing movement among Member
States, including Italy, for a transparet, comprehensive
Code of Conduct could push the possibility of lifting the
embargo out even beyond the Luxembourg Presidency.


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2004ROME04682 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL