SCENESETTER FOR TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY MINETA'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 003600

SIPDIS

DOT FOR EDDIE CARAZO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/19/2015
TAGS: EAIR ELTN EWWT IT OTRA OVIP AVIATION
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY MINETA'S
ITALY TRIP

REF: ROME 03441

Classified By: Economic Minister-Counselor Scott Kilner for
reasons 1.4 b and d.

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Summary. Italy has been a key U.S. ally and
steadfast partner. Italy is the third largest contributor of
troops to coalition forces in Iraq, the largest contributor
to NATO Balkans operations, and commands international
security assistance forces (ISAF) and a Provincial
Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. Newfound international
leadership has weighed heavily on the Italian public, most of
whom are convinced a terror attack will occur here soon.
Prime Minister Berlusconi,s government has been particularly
supportive of our policies; we hope to continue effective
coordination with the GOI should a center-left coalition win
elections next spring. Technocrat Transport Minister Pietro
Lunardi, however, has kept a greater distance from the United
States than other Italian Ministers, even though we have
maintained excellent and deep transport contacts on the
staff- and senior-staff levels. We have made headway with
some issues, like coordination on air safety, but we have
been waylaid with others, like breaking Megaports free from
inter-Ministerial wrangling and having Italy begin a port
security program in earnest. Your visit provides an
opportunity to strengthen our relationship with the Minister,
and help move forward key transportation security issues.
Minister Lunardi is delighted you will be able to
participate. End summary.

Good, Solid Ministry Contacts, but...
--------------


2. (SBU) We have excellent relations with staff- and senior
staff-level Transport Ministry contacts, and effective
coordination on civil aviation, maritime, rail, and
transportation safety and security issues. Our strong
relations include dependent agencies, most notably the
Italian National Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC). A House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure delegation was
here this year and was well received by the Ministry, but not
Lunardi himself.

Cool Lunardi Relationship: Let's Warm it Up.
--------------


3. (C) Over the past several months, Lunardi's lack of
accessibility has contrasted markedly with that of the rest
of his Ministry. Lunardi's staff appeared to use "scheduling
issues8 to duck an Ambassadorial farewell call on Lunardi
earlier this year. The Minister has also declined numerous
invitations to Embassy events since 2002. Valued contacts
report the Minister was miffed because 1) you were unable to
attend last year's EU Ministers, Road Safety Conference,
also in Verona; and 2) the USG kept the Linate case open,
even after Alitalia addressed the codesharing issue. We are
satisfied we have salved bruised relations over Linate, and
believe now is a good time to re-engage Minister Lunardi, who
is delighted you can attend this year's event.
(Newly-arrived Ambassador Spogli's first meeting with Lunardi
is scheduled for November 10, a week after your visit.)

Lunardi: Technocrat Minister to Charm
--------------


4. (U) Infrastructure and Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi
is a rare technocrat in a government whose Ministers are
mostly career politicians. He is a civil engineer with
first-hand experience managing large public works projects,
including dams, tunnels, and underground metro stations, both
in Italy and abroad. In 1979, he founded his own engineering
firm, Rocksoil S.P.A., recognized for innovative tunneling
and underground construction. Minster Lunardi is currently
president of the Italian Tunnel Society and the &Fourth
Dimension Project,8 a professional association advocating
greater use of underground space. Lunardi's first exposure
to government work came in the late 1980,s as a technical
consultant on critical infrastructure protection, underground
defense, civil protection, and emergency public works
projects. He subsequently sat on many commissions, including
the one formed after the tragic 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire.
He was appointed Infrastructure and Transport Minister in
2001, and reconfirmed in April 2005. He speaks very little
English.


5. (U) Most recently, Lunardi bucked the emerging EU
consensus for establishing an aviation &black list.8 He
publicly and vehemently opposed black list proposals from his
European colleagues, as one-off and emotional measures that
would not improve aviation safety. Instead, Lunardi
introduced an aviation safety plan to: (1) adopt and
implement common EU aviation codes for carrier and aircraft
inspections; (2) impose sanctions on non-compliant airlines;
(3) ban airliners from EU airspace for infractions occurring
in any one EU Member State; (4) coordinate an EU &white
list8 of approved air carriers; and (5) EU certify, upon
request, companies not operational in EU skies. The
Ambassador hosted top-level civil aviation contacts September
27 to discuss these aviation safety topics with FAA experts,
including ENAC President Riggio. It would be appropriate to
thank the Minister for his leadership on aviation safety.

Transportation Security: Critical Areas For Mission Italy
-------------- --------------


6. (C) The Embassy's top transportation priorities with
Italy concern transportation infrastructure security, on
which we have had varied success. Italy worked
constructively with us to resolve initial disagreements over
the transmission of passenger-name record data. The GOI also
complied with TSA's Emergency Amendment &No Fly8 procedures
only after costly infractions by Alitalia resulted in an
ad-hoc solution. Then-Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
proposed the Megaports radiation detection program to the
Prime Minister's Office eighteen months ago, but the issue is
still stalled, due to inter-ministerial turf battles and MFA
concern about EU competence. The Prime Minister's Office has
so far failed to pick a lead technical Ministry to direct
negotiations on a Megaports MOU. There is a possibility the
MOT could take the lead on this, and it would be appropriate
for you to ask whether Lunardi could push to have a lead
agency identified with whom we could work on Megaports.


7. (SBU) Again, on port security, we have engaged with MOT
contacts on ISPS implementation and U.S. Coast Guard visits
(although the latter has not materialized because of EU
Commission insistence that the Commission, and not Member
States, have competency). While we have found interlocutors
generally receptive, we have not seen much inter-ministerial
and inter-agency coordination. The Ministry of Interior
(MOI) claims it will assume additional responsibilities for
port security, but it is unclear how the MOI will coordinate
with port authorities and terminal operators, both of whom
fall under the supervision of the MOT.

The Messina Bridge and Other Italian Interests
-------------- -


8. (SBU) We believe Lunardi's chief interests during your
meeting will be (a) the Messina Bridge project and (b) the
Linate complaint. Lunardi may also raise the aviation safety
&black list8 issue, which has figured widely in the local
press (see para 5); you may also want to ask Lunardi's
thoughts on coordinating with the FAA on current aviation
safety issues.

(a) Messina Bridge. The bridge to link mainland Italy to the
island of Sicily has taken another step forward. A 3.88
billion euro contract was awarded October 12 to a consortium
led by Italian construction giant Impreglio and including
Japanese and Spanish firms. Construction is to start next
year; and if completed on schedule in 2012, the almost-four
km Messina bridge would become the longest suspension bridge
in the world. No U.S. companies bid this contract; however,
U.S.-based Parsons Transportation Group is competing against
two Italian-French consortia for the Project Management
Consulting tender. Parsons has requested Foreign Commercial
Service assistance in coordinating Embassy support for its
bid. We hope there may be additional contracting or
sub-contracting opportunities for U.S. firms to participate
in this project. That said, it is unclear how the GOI will
come up with the 40 percent of its part of the project
finance.

(b) Linate Complaint. The American-United Airlines complaint
perplexed our MOT contacts, who asked why the complaint
remained open after Alitalia stopped listing codeshare
flights from Milan's conveniently-located, and small, Linate
airport to U.S. destinations. Our local contacts never
missed an opportunity to express their puzzlement that we
refused to close a case they viewed as solved. We think this
issue is in the past, but the matter could come up in
conversation.


9. Iraq Reconstruction. Conceivably, Minister Lunardi could
also raised Italy's effort to develop a national
transportation plan for rebuilding Iraq's transportation
infrastructure, as part of Italy's 2003 reconstruction pledge
to Iraq. The idea was to create opportunities for Italian
contractors, but security conditions have stalled this
initiative.
SPOGLI