Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BRUSSELS3046
2007-10-02 11:38:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
USEU Brussels
Cable title:  

DEMARCHE DELIVERED: EU MOVING AHEAD ON PLAN FOR

Tags:  PREL PGOV PARM PBTS PHSA SENC ECON EWWT BU 
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VZCZCXRO4367
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBS #3046 2751138
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021138Z OCT 07 ZDK
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS
RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU
RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
RUEHCH/AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KYIV
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA
RUEHSI/AMEMBASSY TBILISI
UNCLAS BRUSSELS 003046 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PARM PBTS PHSA SENC ECON EWWT BU
AJ, GG, MD, GR, UP, TU, RO, RS, EUN
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: EU MOVING AHEAD ON PLAN FOR
BLACK SEA MINISTERIAL

REF: SECSTATE 132171

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 003046

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PARM PBTS PHSA SENC ECON EWWT BU
AJ, GG, MD, GR, UP, TU, RO, RS, EUN
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: EU MOVING AHEAD ON PLAN FOR
BLACK SEA MINISTERIAL

REF: SECSTATE 132171


1. (SBU) Per reftel instructions, USEU delivered the Black
Sea Strategy demarche to Janos Herman, Principal Advisor for
Regional Cooperation, DG RELEX on September 27. Herman
agreed that the U.S. regional strategy complemented the EU's
new "Black Sea Synergy" initiative approved by EU Foreign
Ministers in May 2007. As evidence of the EU's burgeoning
interest in the region, Herman noted that the European
Commission attained observer status at the Organization of
the Black Sea Economic Coordination (BSEC) in June 2007. The
Commission has also signaled to BSEC its support for the
candidacies of four more EU member states -- the UK,
Lithuania, Hungary, and Cyprus. (Note: There are currently
seven EU member states BSEC: the Czech Republic, Germany,
France, Italy, Austria, Poland and Slovakia.)


2. (SBU) Moreover, Herman confirmed that the Commission is
preparing for a high-level political event in the region in
early 2008 as a platform to "provide "political orientation
and visibility to" the Black Sea Synergy. Ukraine, as the
incoming Chair of BSEC, has agreed to host an EU-BSEC
ministerial meeting as a side event of a BSEC conference in
January. The Commission hopes that the participants will
issue a joint ministerial statement at the conclusion of the
event. With this in mind, DG RELEX is now preparing a draft
text that "balances" competing EU institutional and member
states' interests in various aspects of the Synergy. Herman
acknowledged that it may prove even more difficult to reach
agreement with Turkey and Russia on such any such joint
statement. Although the EU intends the ministerial to be a
bilateral event, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the EU told
Poloff that the United States should consider participation
as well.


3. (SBU) Senior Commission officials have also signaled
interest in accelerating regional cooperation in the
environmental and energy areas. During a conference of
ministers from all the countries covered by the European
Neighborhood Policy (ENP) that took place in Brussels on
September 3, Commissioner for External Relations Benita
Ferrero-Waldner announced that the Commission would launch a
feasibility study to examine where the existing legal
arrangements in the EU and its neighbors' energy sectors fall
short, and how to strengthen them. The study would look into
whether a new "neighborhood energy agreement" or legal
framework would be the best solution for making energy
markets work more efficiently for consumers, producers, and
transit countries. Commission President Barroso similarly
noted the need to protect the environment, tackle climate
change, and reinforce energy security in the EU-ENP area.


4. (SBU) Other Commission contacts were less enthusiastic
about the EU's own Black Sea Synergy initiative. They noted
that the initiative has the potential to constrain EU policy
rather than expand it, by keeping the EU bound by the
document. They also questioned whether the Synergy's
placement of Russia on equal political footing in discussions
of the region is actually in the EU's interest.


5. (SBU) COMMENT: We would expect the European Commission to
look askance at a proposal to transform their planned
bilateral ministerial event with BSEC member states into a
trilateral meeting with the United States. At the same time,
USEU would be interested in the view from Embassies KYIV,
Bucharest, and Sofia on such an idea.
GRAY
.