KUWAIT: CONSULTATIONS WITH EU TROIKA

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000497

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/RA, EUR/EUC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL EU KU
SUBJECT: KUWAIT: CONSULTATIONS WITH EU TROIKA


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1. (SBU) On February 11, Ambassador met with his
counterparts from Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom in
the EU Troika format for a round of regular consultations.
(The EU Commission does not have a resident rep in Kuwait.)
Main points of the discussion are contained below.


2. (SBU) The EU hopes to finalize its free trade agreement
with the GCC by May of this year. Remaining issues appear to
be trade-related technical ones. The unofficial boycott of
Danish products in some Gulf states is a wild card and it is
too early to predict whether it will impact finalization of
the negotiations. Not related to the trade agreement, the
European Central Bank is providing some assistance to the GCC
on issues surrounding creation of a common currency.

-- The EU "Strategic Partnership" with Gulf states, (an
offshoot of the Barcelona Process),is weak, due to lack of
leverage through aid programs and lack of interest among Gulf
states, which prefer to focus for now on the trade accord.
The UK has the most active bilateral set of initiatives with
Kuwait among the EU states. Part of this is through its
program titled "Engagement with the Islamic World."


3. (SBU) The Ambassador highlighted the following issues:

-- In response to questions, he noted the slow progress so
far in the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement between
the U.S. and Kuwait, thus not permitting progress on an FTA.


-- Ambassador noted MEPI support for women's programs in
anticipation of the 2007 elections and encouraged
coordination with the EU. (So far, it appears that only the
UK has a substantial program of this type. It is supporting
women entrepreneurs and, separately, youth entrepreneurship.
We coordinate with the UK Embassy separately.)

-- Ambassador provided a review of the progress on
Trafficking in Persons issues, noting that shining an
international spotlight on the use of child camel jockeys has
practically eliminated this abuse in a short time. He
described better treatment of domestic labor as the main
focus of U.S. efforts in Kuwait in 2006. He asked his
counterparts to urge their capitals to take another look at
how to engage the GOK and others on TIP issues.


4. (SBU) The Ambassador and Troika also exchanged views on
the prospects for the new team of ministers in Kuwait and
discussed Kuwaiti reaction to Iran's nuclear ambitions.
LeBaron