POLAND BLOCKS GAERC ON LAUNCHING NEW PCA

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 002390

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/13/2011
TAGS: PREL ENRG ETRD EAGR PL EU
SUBJECT: POLAND BLOCKS GAERC ON LAUNCHING NEW PCA
NEGOTIATIONS AT EU-RUSSIA

REF: A. WARSAW 2238


B. USEU WEBWATCH OF NOVEMBER 13

Classified By: Political Counselor Mary Curtin, reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. FM Fotyga announced at the November 13 GAERC
that Poland would continue its opposition to the EU opening
negotiations for a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement
(PCA) with Russia in advance of the November 24 EU-Russia
Summit, absent Russian ratification of the European Energy
Charter (ECT) and lifting of a Russian ban on meat and other
food imports from Poland. The Polish MFA confirmed that the
GOP position had not changed since the run-up to the October
20 Lahti meetings (reftel),but stressed that Poland objected
"in principle" to negotiating a new PCA until "Russia first
respects its existing obligations under the current PCA."
END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Polish and international media reported November 13 on
the Polish decision to effectively veto the GAERC proposal to
authorize the European Commission to open PCA negotiations
before the EU-Russia Summit. The Polish wire service PAP
quoted FM Fotyga as stating that "Poland will not change its
negative position on adopting the EU mandate" for negotiating
a new PCA "without a political signal from Russia." MFA EU
Department Deputy Director Pawel Herczynski confirmed to Pol
External Chief the substance of the EU decision. However,
Herczynski also emphasized that the question of the ECT and
the Russian import ban were merely symptoms of Russia's
failure to respect its existing PCA commitments. Reiterating
his earlier comments (reftel),Herczynski wondered why the
Finns were in "such a hurry" to open PCA negotiations and
opined that it was merely because they wished to have a
deliverable for the November 24 Summit. He also reminded
that, absent a new agreement, the existing PCA will remain
valid even after its technical expiry date.


3. (C) The Poles are apparently under pressure from some
other EU countries to drop their opposition. We have heard
that Italian PM Prodi called President Lech Kaczynski on
November 9 to urge Poland not to block the GAERC decision.
By contrast, the French DCM told us that not only has France
softened its own support for moving forward on a new PCA, but
in fact the GOF might be secretly pleased at the Polish
intransigence.


4. (C) COMMENT. MFA contacts had told us several months ago
that they expected the Finnish EU presidency to simply begin
planning for the new PCA and hand off all the real work to
the succeeding German presidency. However, the GOP was
forced by the Finnish-imposed format at Lahti to go public
with its opposition to what it considered premature opening
of PCA negotiations. The Poles have remained consistent in
their position since Lahti, apparently surprising some EU
partners who believed that this was merely a tactical move.
We believe that, notwithstanding recent GOP efforts to
improve relations with Russia, the GOP will stand firm on
principle for the time being. However, the Poles may
eventually take the fallback position of insisting that the
relevant ECT provisions be included in the new PCA rather
than demanding actual Russian ratification of the ECT
(reftel). The meat import ban is more difficult to judge,
but reports in the International Tribune on November 14 that
the EU may send inspectors to Poland to certify its
agricultural products may indicate that the Polish stand on
the PCA is bearing fruit. END COMMENT.
HILLAS