IRELAND SEES UNCERTAINTY IN U.S.-EU NEXT STEPS ON

UNCLAS DUBLIN 001389 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON PREL EI SUBJECT: IRELAND SEES UNCERTAINTY IN U.S.-EU NEXT STEPS ON OPEN SKIES REF: STATE 195012 ¶1. Ireland saw the U.S. Department of Transportation's December 5 decision to withdraw its proposal on foreign investment in U.S. carriers as a step that lent clarity to U.S.-EU air transport negotiations, according to Fintan Towey, Acting Principal Officer for Aviation Regulations and International Relations, to whom Pol/Econ Chief delivered reftel demarche on December 6. Towey said that Ireland's interest was still to finalize an Open Skies arrangement with the United States as quickly as possible, especially as the scheduled November start to the U.S.-Irish transition (Shannon phase-out) under the draft U.S.-EU agreement had already been missed. Towey explained that Ireland still preferred to implement bilateral Open Skies in the context of a U.S.-EU agreement, but would see difficulty in a "new" U.S.-EU negotiation process with an uncertain time frame and conclusion. In the absence of certainty in the U.S.-EU effort, Ireland would prefer to move on a bilateral basis. Pol/Econ Chief explained that the USG was unwilling to explore bilateral options with Ireland for the foreseeable future, wishing instead to remain focused on the U.S.-EU front. Towey replied that, in that case, Ireland's interests might be better served by the abandonment of the U.S.-EU negotiations. He added that he would brief Transport Minister Martin Cullen on reftel points. ¶2. Comment: Per reftel instructions, the Ambassador will reiterate demarche points to Minister Cullen in a pre-scheduled December 12 meeting. We thought it best to alert the Irish Department of Transport to the DOT decision rather than have officials learn of this development first through the media, especially after other Member States had been demarched. Moreover, we thought it advisable to inform Minister Cullen ahead of time of the USG disinclination to explore bilateral arrangements, particularly since we understood that he might float the bilateral option at the December 11-12 EU Transport Council meeting. FOLEY