EU-RUSSIA SUMMIT: PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HELSINKI 001131

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2016
TAGS: PREL EUN PGOV ETRD ENRG PL FI RU
SUBJECT: EU-RUSSIA SUMMIT: PREPARATIONS UNDERWAY


Classified By: POLCHIEF Gregory Thome for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: POLOFF on 6 November met with
Finnish MFA Counselor for Russia Paivi Laine to
discuss the Nov. 3 EU-Russia foreign affairs PPC and
preparations for the EU-Russia summit on 24
November. The PPC had "gone well" and Northern
Dimension preparations are "on track"; however, the
Presidency is encountering difficulty preparing the
EU mandate for the next EU-Russia Partnership and
Cooperation Agreement (PCA) because Poland is
holding up consensus over energy and trade concerns.
The General Affairs and External Relations Council
(GAERC) meeting on 13-14 November will be one of the
last opportunities for the Presidency to hammer out
a deal before the upcoming summit. END SUMMARY.

PPC READOUT AND NORTHERN DIMENSION PREVIEW
--------------

2. (SBU) Laine stated that the EU-Russia PPC meeting
at the foreign minister level had gone well, even
though Lavrov was somewhat reluctant to delve too
deeply into issues surrounding the 'frozen
conflicts'. The Finns did raise Georgia as part of
the EU's continued effort to lower the temperature
of the dispute. Russian FM Lavrov responded by
echoing the current Russian line that Georgia alone
was responsible for the escalation in tensions and
that once Tbilisi ended its provocation, Moscow
would respond in kind. The Presidency also raised
the issue of Siberian overflights and Lavrov stated
that the issue would be solved by 2013. The
Presidency had hoped to secure some sort of forward
movement on the issue ahead of that deadline.


3. (U) Laine was confident that preparations for the
Northern Dimension meeting on 24 November were
almost complete and that the meeting itself would be
very brief (it follows the EU-Russia summit that
will take place earlier that same day). The only
item on the agenda is the signing of an agreement,
the text of which is already complete. Moscow has,
in the past, bristled over its perception that the
Nordics have treated it as something of a junior
partner within the Northern Dimension framework.
The new agreement addresses those concerns and paves
the way for enhanced cooperation on environmental
and other cross-border programs of shared regional
concern.

TRADE AND ENERGY: WARSAW TAKING A STAND
--------------

4. (C) Preparations for the EU-Russia summit, by
contrast, were not going as smoothly. Currently,
Putin is scheduled to meet Finnish leaders
bilaterally on 23 November; on 24 November, the EU
Troika and Russia will discuss the PCA mandate,
energy concerns, Georgia, the frozen conflicts, and
other EU-Russia bilateral items during morning
meetings and a lunch. The major 'deliverable' among
these, at least from the Finnish Presidency
perspective, was to be EU consensus on a negotiating
package for a new EU-Russia PCA. Formulated in
close cooperation with Moscow, the agreed-upon
package was to be blessed at the summit and then
handed over to the German Presidency for completion
by June 2007. Unfortunately, Laine said, Poland
alone is holding up consensus on the negotiating
mandate.


5. (C) Warsaw has two major concerns. First, it is
insisting that the PCA negotiations address the
questionable sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) bans
that Moscow has placed on imports of all
agricultural goods of Polish origin. Since 2004,
Russia has increasingly used SPS bans as a foreign
policy tool against many states including several EU
members and neighbors like the Netherlands, Moldova,
and Georgia. In this regard, Russia's WTO
membership and its accompanying enforcement
mechanisms would weaken or eliminate the Kremlin's
use of SPS standards as a weapon and Laine expressed
hope that the ongoing US-Russia WTO bilateral
negotiations would soon reach a conclusion.


6. (C) Second, Poland is insisting that Russia
ratify the European Energy Charter before the next
PCA takes effect. Laine stressed that there is
genuine alarm at all levels of the Polish government
over the Northern European Gas Pipeline, and that in
general terms the Presidency and most EU members
share those concerns. However, she said, others in

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the EU do not share Warsaw's view that holding the
PCA agreement hostage is the best way to address
those concerns. The EU will continue to press
Russia to ratify the ECT, capitalizing on the
positive tone established at the EU informals in
Lahti in October. Laine stated that the Presidency
is accepting Putin's statements that Russia agrees
with the principles of the Energy Charter and hoped
to base the PCA mandate on those principles, though
not on the Charter itself, as Poland is insisting.


7. (C) COMMENT: Laine expressed hope that the EU
could keep Warsaw from blocking consensus on the PCA
mandate, given that an EU failure to offer this
important 'deliverable' could cast an unhelpful
shadow over some of the more difficult regional
discussions. The Finns are working closely with the
Poles to see if a compromise can be reached. END
COMMENT.
WARE