BSEC SENIOR OFFICIALS DISCUSS RELATIONS WITH EU,

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 000183

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

BUDAPEST FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HUB, PARIS FOR OECD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SENV EU
SUBJECT: BSEC SENIOR OFFICIALS DISCUSS RELATIONS WITH EU,
UPCOMING GALA

REF: A. ATHENS 342


B. ANKARA 367

C. 2006 ISTANBUL 2061


1. (SBU) Summary: BSEC Senior Officials met February 26-27
in Istanbul to discuss establishing an
institution-to-institution relationship with the European
Union, review the status of ongoing projects including a
labor/employment study to be performed the OECD, and discuss
preparations for the 15th Anniversary of BSEC. Procedural
problems no longer bog the committee down in hours of
discussion before an agenda can be adopted, but a bitter
division between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus' application
for observer status kept the committee in closed session for
hours longer than expected. End Summary.


2. (SBU) The BSEC Senior Officials Committee met February
26-27 in Istanbul. Representatives from all 12 BSEC member
states as well as several observers (Italy, Poland, and
Belarus as well as the United States) attended the meeting.
Secretary General Chrysanthopoulos appears to have dealt with

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a penchant by some delegations to debate the substance of
issues during the discussion of the agenda that had resulted
in the adoption of the agenda taking several hours at past
meetings. The discussion of Project Development Fund
applications was also dealt with efficiently, with
Chrysanthopoulos and the Serbian Chairman in Office working
together to keep the discussion focused.

The Observer Impasse
--------------


3. (SBU) The bulk of the discussions were held in camera
(observers, including the United States and the BSEC
associated bodies, did not participate) and covered the
budget and financial issues, staffing and personnel, and
several applications for observer status. The primary point
of contention during the in camera discussions was Cyprus'
application for observer status, which the Turkish delegation
blocked. In response the Greek delegation reportedly
refused to agree to applications for observer status from all
other applicants including Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom,
Hungary and several other countries. This impasse is
long-standing, and does not seem to affect requests for
renewal of existing observer status. However,
representatives from several delegations expressed concern to
us that the struggle over Cyprus might impede BSEC's efforts
to forge a closer relationship with the EU, a process that
should result in the EU applying for observer status.


4. (SBU) All discussions related to observers were held in
camera. The possibility of a USG-sponsored environmental
seminar (ref C) had clearly been reviewed by the member
states as representatives from the Ukrainian and Russian
delegations sought us out to express support for the concept
following the closed session. The head of the Greek
delegation expressed support for the idea at the very
beginning of the conference, noting that he had raised the
issue with Embassy Athens (ref A) not long ago. The Turkish
delegation head asked for more detail as soon as possible and
stressed the need to have the proposal formally announced at
the upcoming Working Group on Environmental Protection.

Relations with the EU and with the OECD
--------------


5. (SBU) BSEC-EU interaction was a primary focus of the open
sessions. The Committee of Senior Officials intends to meet
with EU Troika representatives on March 23 in Istanbul. BSEC
hopes to convince the EU to work with BSEC on an
institution-to-institution basis, thus creating a mechanism
that would enable the EU to work directly with the BSEC
states as a group as well as bilaterally. The European
Commission is currently updating a 1997 paper on Black Sea
policy, and BSEC would like to take this opportunity to
define itself as "the main partner of the EU in the wider
Black Sea area."


6. (SBU) The OECD Development Center has agreed to prepare a
report on macroeconomic trends with a focus on labor and
employment creation policies in the BSEC member states.
Greece, Turkey and Romania have contributed financially to
this project. The OECD project leader is actively seeking
additional financing from institutional sponsors as well as
core financing from OECD member states. The project leader
hopes to publish the outlook in December 2007 or January 2008.

Preparations for BSEC's 15th Anniversary
--------------


7. (SBU) Turkey will take over the BSEC Chairmanship from
Serbia in May and is already deep in preparations for the
15th anniversary of BSEC, to be celebrated in Istanbul on
June 24. Asim Arar, MFA Deputy Director General for
Multilateral Economic Affairs, noted that a major celebration
was being arranged by the Government of Turkey (GOT) to
coincide with the Istanbul Summit (ref B). BSEC member
states have been invited to attend at the head of state/head
of government level. The 13 BSEC observers will be invited
at the foreign minister level. Certain international
organizations, such as the OSCE, the OECD, the EU, UNDP and
the World Bank will also be invited. Arar explained that
invitations to the summit would be delivered in capitals
soon, most likely during the first week of March.


8. (SBU) Comment: Chrysanthopoulos efforts to make BSEC more
internally efficient as well as project-oriented appear to be
bearing fruit as his first year in office draws to a close.
Although the modalities of the BSEC-EU interaction still
remain to be worked out, at least the two groups have agreed
to meet and for its part BSEC seems to be eager to develop
this relationship. The GOT also appears committed to
revitalizing BSEC during its term in office. The BSEC
secretariat as well as a number of key member states (Turkey,

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Greece, Russia, Ukraine) have encouraged the United States to
cooperate with BSEC on an environmental conference (see
proposal ref C.) End Comment.
JONES