AMBASSADOR BRIEFS EU MISSION CHIEFS ON MEPI; EU

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001500

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI AND NEA/PI, ABU DHABI FOR MEPI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2015
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON KMPI KU MEPI
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR BRIEFS EU MISSION CHIEFS ON MEPI; EU
REPORTS GCC RESISTS EUROMED PARTICIPATION

REF: A. KUWAIT 1465


B. 04 STATE 271434

Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: The Ambassador hosted a meeting with EU
Chiefs of Mission to discuss Broader Middle East and North
Africa (BMENA) projects in Kuwait as well as on-going Middle
East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) programs. The EU Chiefs
reported the difficulty they had in convincing the GCC to
participate as "strategic partners" in the Euromed
initiative. The discussion revealed various initiatives
coming from several organizations but limited coordination
among the BMENA participants. End summary.


2. (U) The Ambassador hosted 13 EU Chiefs of Mission April 11
to discuss the MEPI program and Kuwait's involvement. He
described MEPI's reform goals and emphasized the program's
support from the White House, Congress and Department. While
somewhat active in MEPI, Kuwait has not been involved to the
same degree as other countries given its relative wealth and
lack of officially-recognized non-governmental organizations.
Kuwait has participated in MEPI small grants, standing
program announcement programs and regional conferences. The
Ambassador introduced Post's MEPI coordinator as a point of
contact for additional program information.


3. (SBU) In contrast to U.S. efforts, it appears that the
European Union, with the exception of the United Kingdom, is
less engaged in Middle East reform efforts in the Gulf. Aside
from MEPI, the only other bilateral effort addressed was the
UK's Global Opportunity Fund, which focuses on various
thematic program areas such as counter-terrorism and
"engaging the Islamic world." The British Embassy has used
the Fund, created post-September 11, to sponsor three
workshops in Kuwait in 2004 focused on women's development in
media, lobbying and networking skills. They have also sent
Kuwaitis to the UK for conferences.


4. (C) The meeting addressed G-8, NATO, BMENA and EU
initiatives related to Middle East reform. The EU's
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, also known as Euromed,
launched in 1995 as the "Barcelona Process." It currently
links the EU with 10 Mediterranean countries (including the
non-Arab states of Israel and Turkey) in security, economic
and cultural affairs. The EU would like to expand Euromed
participation to the GCC, but the proposal received a cool
reception at the April 5 EU-GCC Ministerial in Bahrain
(reftel A). Oman and Saudi Arabia were notable resistors to
the "EU Strategic Partnership with the Mediterranean and the
Middle East," adopted by the European Council in June 2004,
asserting that EU-GCC relations are primarily commercial and
questioning the inclusion of non-economic matters, which
Euromed would require.

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