AUSTRIAN RESPONSE: E.O. 13382: DESIGNATION OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 003878 SIPDIS STATE FOR ISN, T, AND EUR/AGS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2015 TAGS: EWWT MNUC PARM PREL AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE: E.O. 13382: DESIGNATION OF EIGHT MORE ENTITIES REF: A) STATE 214780 B) VIENNA 3203 Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Gregory E. Phillips for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Econ Unit Chief delivered ref A talking points and nonpaper one December 12 to Johann Froehlich, Head of the MFA's Justice and Home Affairs Division and to Birgit Ertl in the Ministry of Finance's Financial Markets Division. Froehlich reiterated points from ref B discussion, in which he noted that the GoA did not have specific laws or regulations that targeted WMD proliferators. The GoA can prosecute WMD proliferators, but he cautioned that this required a high threshold of proof. Austria does not have a mechanism to freeze assets of proliferators administratively. Froehlich suggested that the establishment of a regime, based on the models of the UN's 1267 Committee or the EU's Clearinghouse, offered the best prospects for developing a mechanism to stem WMD proliferation financing. MCCAW