AUSTRIAN VIEWS ON WTO SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS

UNCLAS VIENNA 001593 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD AU WTO SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN VIEWS ON WTO SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS REF: STATE 81619 ¶1. (SBU) On May 12, Econ Unit Chief deliverd reftel talking points to Gabriela Habermayer, Head of the Ministry of Economy's Multilateral Trade Affairs Division. Habermayer said the GoA shared USG concerns that most initial offers lacked ambition. Habermayer admitted that the EU's initial services offer was also less ambitious than it could have been. The Commission, in Habermayer's opinion, wanted to proceed "carefully" given the low quality of the initial services offers. She added that the EU was conducting an internal "reality check" to gauge what could be done to keep the services negotiations on track. ¶2. (SBU) Habermayer cautioned that many developing countries still perceived an informal sequencing of the negotiations, (i.e., real progress on the agricultural and goods negotiations) was necessary before services could move forward. Habermayer stressed the GoA supported intensifying the negotiations in all sectors, moving forward simultaneously on parallel tracks. Brown