Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BERLIN2782
2006-09-20 16:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Berlin
Cable title:  

GERMANY'S EU PRESIDENCY - LOOKING AT THE ECONOMIC

Tags:  ECON ENRG GM PGOV PREL EU 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 02782

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CXBERLIN:
 ACTION: AMB
 INFO: POL ECON DCM CHRON
CX2BERLN:
 ACTION: AMB
 INFO: POL ECON DCM CHRON

DISSEMINATION: AMB
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: EMIN:RFCEKUTA
DRAFTED: ECON:TELISTON
CLEARED: ECON: DNEUMANN, POL: MMARTIN

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FM AMEMBASSY BERLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5355
INFO RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 002782 

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EUR/AGS, EUR/ERA, USTR FOR MMOWREY, SDONNELLY
COMMERCE FOR PENELOPE NAAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2016
TAGS: ECON ENRG GM PGOV PREL EU
SUBJECT: GERMANY'S EU PRESIDENCY - LOOKING AT THE ECONOMIC
AGENDA

REF: BERLIN 1993

Classified By: Classified by EMIN Robert F. Cekuta for reasons 1.4(b) a
nd (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BERLIN 002782

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

EUR/AGS, EUR/ERA, USTR FOR MMOWREY, SDONNELLY
COMMERCE FOR PENELOPE NAAS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2016
TAGS: ECON ENRG GM PGOV PREL EU
SUBJECT: GERMANY'S EU PRESIDENCY - LOOKING AT THE ECONOMIC
AGENDA

REF: BERLIN 1993

Classified By: Classified by EMIN Robert F. Cekuta for reasons 1.4(b) a
nd (d).


1. (SBU) The American Chamber of Commerce EU's meetings on
September 13 and 14 with officials responsible for Germany's
EU presidential agenda at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Ministry of Economics and Chancellery provided a
comprehensive preview of Germany's EU presidency economic
agenda. Germany plans to split the focus of its presidency
into two parts with the first three months concentrating on
economic and political issues, i.e. economic competition and
the internal market, in addition to the political agenda -- a
re-energized Neighborhood Policy, strengthened relations with
Central Asia, and a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement
with Russia -- reported reftel. Within these two themes,
Chancellor Merkel intends to focus on better regulation and
energy. The second part of Germany's EU presidency will
focus on moving the EU's constitution forward. The Berlin
celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome
will kick off Germany's efforts to revisit the question of
the EU constitution. According to Dr. Uwe Corsepius,
Director General for European Policy at the Chancellery,
Chancellor Merkel intends to work this issue bilaterally with
EU member states rather than through Brussels. End Summary

-------------- --------------
The German Presidency - A Presidency in Two Parts
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) The visit of the American Chamber of Commerce EU's
advocacy group for the EU presidency included meetings with
officials from various ministries -- MFA, Economic, Finance,
the Chancellery, Agriculture, and Environment -- responsible
for formulating Germany's EU presidency agenda. According to
officials at the MFA and Chancellery, Germany plans to divide
its presidency in two parts, the first part focusing on
economic competition and the internal market; the second part

focusing on EU constitutional reform. Dr. Uwe Corsepius,
Director General for European Policy at the Chancellery, said
the spring European Council meeting March 8-9 would highlight
issues falling under economic competition and the internal
market, namely energy and better regulation. Germany will
then use the 50th anniversary celebration of the Treaty of
Rome, which will take place in Berlin March 25, 2007, to kick
off the second part of its presidency, which will address
reforming the EU Constitution. As German officials envision
the event, the declaration issued at the Berlin celebration
will underscore EU values and will focus on what kind of
European Union leaders envision for the future, laying the
groundwork for EU constitutional reform.

--------------
Agenda - "Less is More"
--------------


3. (SBU) Corsepius said Germany's approach to its presidency
would differ slightly from other EU presidencies by using the
principle of "less is more" to guide the formulation of its
agenda. Corsepius stated Germany deliberately chose a
limited number of topics where heads of state can play an
active role and actually make decisions, rather than going
down the road where issues are discussed by a cast of
thousands with nothing coming to fruition. By limiting the
agenda items and access, the German government hopes heads of
state can achieve substantive results in Council meetings.

-------------- --------------
Economic Priorities - Energy and Better Regulation
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) Officials at each ministry stressed the importance
Germany places on energy as part of its focus on internal
market issues. Corsepius noted that Germany, until recently,
had approached energy policy as exclusively a national
sovereignty issue. However, the German government has
recently come to see a need to deal with certain aspects of
energy policy in a broader EU context. Corsepius said there
are some areas where legislation/regulation at the EU level
dealing with energy security would make sense. Other areas
he mentioned for possible EU-level cooperation are energy
efficiency, renewable energy sources, non-CO2 emitting
engines, and energy market competition. (Note: Although
guarded in his overall assessment of what Germany can
realistically achieve in terms of deliverables for the
U.S.-EU Summit, Corsepius mentioned renewables as an area
where the U.S. and EU could make "progress, even if it's only
a small amount." End Note.) He stated Germany is preparing
an energy strategy to be issued in March 2007, and there will
be a review of energy policy in March at the European Council
meeting.


5. (SBU) Germany plans to address the EU internal market in
the context of globalization and investment, according to
Peter Tempel, MFA's Director General of European Policy, and
to State Secretary Joachim Wuermeling, who handles Germany's
EU presidency at the Ministry of Economics. Both officials
stressed Germany would, through its presidency, take the
opportunity to convince a skeptical public of the benefits of
globalization, with Tempel noting that officials realize EU
can only play an equal role on the world stage if it can
compete economically. Therefore, officials stressed the
importance of Germany communicating an EU strategy for
globalization. This effort means actively engaging on topics
like innovation, competition and working to fulfill the goals
set out in the Lisbon Agenda.


6. (SBU) Better regulation is the linchpin to achieving more
competition, innovation and sustained economic growth,
according to officials in all AmCham EU's meetings with the
various ministries. Chancellery officials noted Germans had
a general feeling of over-regulation and lack of
understanding of what Brussels does that benefits them. In
order to win back citizens' trust, Germany wants to reexamine
the level and costs of EU regulation on its citizens and
economy, using Germany's own initiatives in this area as a
guide. Corsepius suggested that these efforts would include
looking at how to manage better information costs, i.e., what
information could be harmonized and electronically
catalogued. However, he acknowledged that making substantive
changes -- "getting beyond nice speeches" -- would prove a
challenge.

--------------
Constitutional Reform Efforts
--------------


7. (SBU) The EU constitutional reform efforts will be the
focus of the second half of Germany's EU presidency. German
officials see the presidency as an opportunity to lead the
debate on the future of the EU, with constitutional reform
playing a central role in this process. According to
Corsepius, Germany's efforts to tackle one of the EU's most
complex issues are best served by a "capital-based approach."
In other words, rather than allowing EU institutions into
the decision making process, members need to keep discussions
government-to-government.

--------------
Intangibles
--------------


8. (SBU) German officials admit events beyond Germany's
control, i.e., elections in other member states or a crisis
in the Middle East, can easily hijack Germany's agenda for
its EU presidency. Officials also attempted to draw a clear
line between the EU presidency and Germany's G-7/8
presidency; while admitting maintaining parallel presidencies
would prove challenging. According to State Secretary
Wuermeling, Germany's goal is to have EU and G-8 issues
complement, rather than contradict each other. Wuermeling
pointed to IPR, innovation, energy and demand for raw
materials as examples of Germany's efforts to put forth
complementary issues in both fora.

--------------
Comment
--------------


9. (C) Germany's agenda for the EU presidency is shaping up
to be a bifurcated one -- one with a clearly defined, yet
limited number of issues on the economic or technical front
and another which is decidedly ambitious, though ambiguous,
in its attempt to restart the EU's constitutional reform.
Germany sees the EU presidency as an opportunity to put its
stamp on how the EU addresses globalization and competes in
the world market. The German government thinks that by
keeping its economic agenda focused on a limited number of
key, globalization-related issues, it can achieve tangible
results. Germany, the top global goods exporter, has clearly
reaped the benefits of globalization, even while its
government has not effectively conveyed a clear, positive
message to the public on why they need to embrace
globalization. It needs to get out the message that EU
countries can excel through participating in and shaping this
economic system. While German officials try to keep
expectations low for what its presidency will accomplish on
the economic front, Germany nonetheless wants to try to get
the constitutional process back on track, using the
anniversary of the Treaty of Rome to jump-start efforts.
Beyond issuing a declaration at the Treaty of Rome
celebration, German officials, however, have yet to express a
clear vision on how they plan to move the constitutional
reform process forward. Convincing EU member states to begin
taking another look at EU constitutional reform during the
first half of 2007 -- at a time when key European countries
will be holding elections -- could prove too ambitious.
TIMKEN JR