UK PREVIEW OF THE JANUARY GAERC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 000249

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV ENRG EAID MARR YI SR BK IS SO IR
UK
SUBJECT: UK PREVIEW OF THE JANUARY GAERC

REF: A) STATE 5256 B) STATE 5640

Classified By: Political Counselor Richard Mills for reasons 1.4 (B) an
d (D).


1. (C) Summary. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)
expects Kosovo and Iran to be major issues of discussion at
the January GAERC. UK goals are to 1) keep "wobbly" EU
Members on board with the need to resolve Kosovo's status as
soon as possible after the Serbian elections and 2) keep the
door open for EU-specific Iranian sanctions, beyond those
agreed in UNSCR 1737, that could be approved later in
February or March. The FCO supports the European Commission
paper on external energy security, welcomes U.S. support of
the paper's main points (ref B),and hopes for EU Council
endorsement in March. End Summary.


2. (C) Pol Counselor conveyed ref A and B points to Martin
Sherman, head of the Common Foreign and Security Policy
Office, on January 19. Econ Counselor separately conveyed
ref B points on energy policy to Scott Wightman, Director of
the FCO's Globalization Office, as well. Sherman and
Wightman provided us with the following points in reply:

-- Western Balkans. Sherman said there will be no formal
actions taken on these issues, but he expects difficult
discussions on the timing of Ahtisaari's proposals. Many of
Serbia's neighbors -- Sherman singled out Italy, Greece, and
Austria -- are "getting wobbly" about implementing
Ahtisaari's status proposals soon after the January 21
Serbian elections. There is a "rising chorus" from these EU
states to postpone the resolution of Kosovo's status until
after at least a new government is formed in Belgrade.
Sherman said London shares the USG position that there should
be no further delays. In London's view, to tie a resolution
on Kosovo to the formation of a Serbian Government gives
Belgrade the ability to further delay action. Although
Sherman expected difficult discussions, the German presidency
shares the USG/UK view and Sherman anticipates the EU will
stay united in support of no further delay.

-- Iran. The UK expects the GAERC to produce a statement of
"political" buy-in to fast implementation of the sanctions
outlined in UNSCR 1737, with approval of the necessary legal
instruments later in February. Sherman said the UK's goal is
to keep the door open at this GAERC for additional
restrictions on Iranian individuals and institutions beyond
those contained in UNSCR 1737. London has a list of an
additional forty or so institutions/individuals it would like
to see sanctioned, but will not move forward on that list
until the EU has acted to implement the UNSC sanctions.
According to Sherman, London expects some EU members to
resist further sanctions without an additional UNSCR.

-- Somalia. Sherman said the UK shares U.S. goals in Somalia
as expressed ref A. He did not anticipate a decision at the
GAERC on release of EU funds to support peacekeeping efforts
in Somalia, but said there would likely be a statement of
support for the planned AU force. Sherman agreed that many
EU Members will want a formal request from the AU, along with
some UNSC blessing, before they release funds to support a
peacekeeping force. He added that several Members, including
the UK, are concerned about financial transparency and
controls over any EU funds and that issue will need to be
addressed.

-- European Neighborhood Policy. Sherman did not think that
any formal endorsement of the Commission proposals for
strengthening the ENP would be taken at the GAERC He said
the FCO's view is that the proposals are fine, but the ENP
concept needs to be carefully managed so that it does not
become an excuse to slow down the broader enlargement
process.

-- External Energy Policy. Both Wightman and Sherman said
the UK supported the Commission's external energy report and
its focus on improving energy security through increased
competition and transparency in the energy sector. They
welcomed the U.S. Government's support for the paper, but
Wightman took exception to the U.S. Government view that
"there is no single path" to achieving the objectives of
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy security and
sustainable development (ref B). Wightman argued that
regulating carbon emissions is, in fact, a single mechanism
that can achieve all three of these objectives. Both Sherman
and Wightman did not anticipate formal action on the report
at the GAERC, but Wightman expected the EU Council to endorse
the report in March.

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