ITALIAN VIEWS ON NOVEMBER 7 EU FOREIGN MINISTERS'

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 003671

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/31/2015
TAGS: EAID PREL BO KPAL ETRD IT EUN EAGER
SUBJECT: ITALIAN VIEWS ON NOVEMBER 7 EU FOREIGN MINISTERS'
MEETING

REF: A) ROME 3631 B) ROME 3631 C) ROME 3547 D) STATE
198361

Classified By: Classified by David D. Pearce, Acting Deputy Chief of Mi
ssion, for reasons 1.4. (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary. Post delivered ref d points to MFA
interlocutors during the week of October 31. The GOI
supports the US position on Middle East, Balkans, and Avian
Flu issues. Progress on WTO issues, however, will depend on
the whether there is movement on issues of key importance to
the GOI - particularly on geographic indicators. End Summary.

DOHA ROUND
- - - - - -


2. (SBU) Although manufactured goods and services make up
82% of Italian exports, the GOI supports the EU's proposals
on agricultural market access, and is unlikely to play a
prominent role in urging member states to give EU Trade
Commissioner Mandelson more flexibility in the negotiations
leading to December's WTO Ministerial. Italy's position is
driven by the disproportionate weight agricultural interests
(responsible for only six percent of Italy's exports on its
current account) have in Italy's governing coalition. Senior
officials at the Ministries of Trade, Agriculture and Foreign
Affairs have stated that, in the face of elections scheduled
for April, the GOI's position on Doha is heavily influenced
by political, not economic, considerations. The GOI supports
the EU's call for "parallelism" in the negotiations and is
concerned about the lack of progress in negotiations for
improved market access, both for manufactured goods and
services.


3. (SBU) Our assessment is that in order for the GOI to
become more forward leaning on agricultural access, movement
is needed on three issues in the Round that are of particular
concern to the GOI. These are: (i) institutionalization of
geographical indicators (GIs),(ii) flexibility on "sensitive
goods" lists, and (iii) progress in NAMA negotiations aimed
at increasing access to markets in developing countries for
Italian manufactured goods and services. Our interlocutors
said that "gains" in these areas will help the GOI sell
"losses" in the agricultural sector to an otherwise skeptical
electorate.


IRAQ
- - -


4. (C) As a major troop-contributing country, the GOI has a
significant stake in a successful outcome of the Iraqi
democratic process. Repeated statements from high-level GOI
officials and messages communicated to post indicate that the
GOI will continue to play a leadership role in Iraq (ref b).
GOI leaders have also made plain that any adjustments that
might be contemplated in future force levels would be closely
coordinated with both the government of Iraq and other troop
contributors. Additionally, despite having strong commercial
ties with Iran, the GOI did not hesitate to deliver strong
messages condemning the Iranian President's recent comments
about Israel (ref a).


AVIAN FLU
- - - - -


5. (C) The GOI takes the threat of Avian flu seriously. The
GOI intends to participate in the International Partnership
for Avian and Pandemic Influenza (IPAPI) and has committed
5.4 million Euros for vaccines, 1 million euros for
stockpiling retrovirals (Tamiflu),and an additional 1
million euros for surveillance measures. The GOI will attend
the WHO conference in November, at which time Italy will
announce a pledge. The GOI is pushing legislation, expected
to be enacted soon, that would increase surveillance and
education efforts, create a national center to coordinate GOI
responses to animal diseases, register poultry farms,
establish guidelines for containing commercial flocks of
poultry to avoid contact with wild birds, and begin regular
testing of animals. Post believes the GOI is both committed
and capable of sharing information with U.S. and
international bodies on this threat.

SYRIA
- - -


6. (C) Acting Office Director for the Eastern Mediterranean,
Luca Sorgi, said his office had brought the points to the
attention of DG for the Middle East and Mediterranean
Riccardo Sessa (who had just returned from a trip to the
Palestinian territories and Israel with FM Fini),
highlighting the two key points: 1) non-engagement with
Syria; and 2) canceling Syria's invitation to the upcoming
10th Anniversary Summit of the Barcelona Process. Sorgi said
that, on the first point, Italy has no planned visits to
Syria or by Syrian officials to Italy. On the second point,
he said that the UK, as holder of the EU Presidency, and
Spain, as host of the Barcelona Summit, were handling the
invitations, and that Italy was not involved in the process.
PolOff pushed back saying that Italy could speak up if it
wanted. Sorgi said that the November 11 meeting of the COMEP
(EU working group on Middle East issues) presented an
opportunity to discuss the issue, if the UK decided to
include it in the agenda, which, to his knowledge, it had not
yet done.


ICTY COOPERATION
- - - - - - - - -


7. (C) During a recent visit to Rome by DAS Rosemary
DiCarlo, the Italians confirmed in multilateral and bilateral
meetings that they view ICTY cooperation as a firm
requirement for Euro-Atlantic integration by Balkan nations.
Amb. Laura Mirachian, the Italian candidate for High
Representative in Bosnia, noted that ICTY cooperation is one
of the four highest priorities for Italian initiatives in the
region.


KOSOVO
- - - -


8. (C) During the recent Contact Group meetings and related
bilateral discussions with USG officials, the Italians
stressed that international engagement continues to be
necessary in Kosovo. For their part, the Italians plan to
maintain a sizable military presence in Kosovo and have
lobbied for a larger policy voice in the Balkans.

BELARUS
- - - -


9. (C) The GOI remains committed to working toward a
peaceful transition of power in Belarus. They support
bilateral civic organizations and opposition figures. They
support the EU visa ban and have joined other EU countries in
condemning previous elections as not meeting international
standards for free and fair voting. The GOI will coordinate
with the EU and OSCE to provide election monitoring in the
upcoming election cycle. On a bilateral basis, the GOI has
essentially frozen the bilateral relationship with Belarus.
(ref c)

MEPP
- -


10. (C) MEPP points were delivered separately to Acting
Office Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Luca Sorgi.
Sorgi said, as with the recent Bush - Abu Mazen meeting, he
was struck by the absence of any mention of Hamas. With
Palestinian elections only a few months away, he said, time
is getting short and Italy would like to know whether the US
position towards Hamas is changing. Within the EU, he said,
some countries are already asking what will happen if there
is a Hamas minister, and he expects that the EU will
specifically address the Hamas issue in more detail in a
GAERC meeting on November 21. (Note: Italy successfully
pushed the EU to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization
during its 2003 EU Presidency. Sorgi's comments indicate
that some EU members may be asking the EU to rethink its
policy toward Hamas. End note.)


UN MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


11. (U) Italy fully supports the outcomes of the Millennium
Development Summit and is commited to defining a strategy to
reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In an October
27 speech, Under Secretary Mantica stressed good governance,
recipient country ownership of development projects, rural
development, trade and investment, microcredit, and education
as key to reaching the MDGs. He also underlined the
importance of the private sector in contributing to
sustainable development. Italy has donated 4 million USD to
the "Education for All" initiative of the World Bank;
committed 180 million Euro to the Global Fight Against AIDS
and malaria and tuberculosis initiatives, with another 130
million Euros earmarked for 2006; canceled 2.7 billion USD in
debt and is prepared to cancel another 4.5 billion USD when
additional countries reach the "completion point"; supported
the proposal for an International Finance Facility; and is
committing 600 million USD over the next 20 years to finance
a pilot program for production and distribution of vaccines.
Given Italy's poor economic performance and rising deficit,
Mantica noted that it will be a challenge to increase
official development assistance (ODA) to 0.7% of GDP. Italy
aims to increase its ODA to 0.51% of GDP by 2010.
SPOGLI