UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY VOTE -- URGENT DEMARCHE

UNCLAS VIENNA 003407

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR IO/UNESCO AND EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: ETRD PHUM SCUL AU UNESCO
SUBJECT: UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY VOTE -- URGENT DEMARCHE


DELIVERED TO AUSTRIA

REF: A. (A) STATE 192656


B. (B) VIENNA 3397 AND PREVIOUS

This cable is Sensitive But Unclassified. Please treat

accordingly.


1. (U) Upon receipt of ref (a),Embassy formally delivered

the diplomatic note on the UNESCO Cultural Diversity

Convention to the Austrian government, via the Foreign

Ministry. EconPolCouns and Econ Unit Chief concurrently

delivered copies of the diplomatic note and ref (a) talking

points to senior officials in the Foreign and Economics

Ministries, respectively.


2. (U) Frieda Luggauer-Gollner, the MFA's Assistant

Secretary-level Director for Multilateral Foreign Cultural

SIPDIS

and UNESCO Affairs, expressed appreciation for our efforts to

make our views clear. Luggauer-Gollner noted that Austria

has supported the concept of the Cultural Diversity

Convention since the idea first arose. In conjunction with

other EU member states and with other members of UNESCO,

Austria has worked closely on the development of the current

text. The draft convention reflects a long period of serious

discussions. Austria "fully supports" the text which has

emerged.


3. (SBU) Luggauer-Gollner said that Austria considered

paragraph 2 of Article 20 of the draft convention to prevent

an interpretation of the Cultural Diversity Convention as

taking precedence over other international agreements.

(Note: The relevant language states, "Nothing in this

Convention shall be interpreted as modifying rights and

obligations of the Parties under any other treaties to which

they are parties." End note.) We urged Luggauer-Gollner to

instruct the Austrian delegation to make a statement to this

effect in order to clarify the record for future

interpretation. Luggauer-Gollner undertook to discuss our

request with Austria's interagency community.


4. (SBU) Gabriela Habermayer, the head of the Ministry of

Economics and Labor's Multilateral Trade Affairs Division,

told us that Austria believed the Cultural Diversity

Convention and WTO obligations did not conflict, but were

mutually supportive. Pressed, she agreed that the French

Culture Minister's statements about the precedence of the

Cultural Diversity Convention could presage an attempt on the

part of France and others to use the convention as a lever in

WTO discussions. However, she believed this would be certain

to fail in the face of the existing consensus on the nature

and scope of the convention.

van Voorst