UK EXPECTATIONS FOR GAERC MEETING; AGREEMENT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 003915 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/12/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV EUN ETRD ETTC KPAL YI RS LY IZ IR BM, ZI, UK SUBJECT: UK EXPECTATIONS FOR GAERC MEETING; AGREEMENT TO LAY GROUNDWORK FOR IRAN SANCTIONS REF: A) STATE 141316 B) STATE 143223 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Maura Connelly for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) In response to ref a points, Tom Burn of the Foreign Office's EU Section provided Poloff with the following readout of UK expectations for next week's GAERC: ¶2. (C) Iran: Burn shared the agreed upon language to be included in the text of the GAERC conclusions: "The Council agreed that the EU will consider what additional measures it might take in order to support the UN process and the shared objectives of the international community, and invited the relevant Council bodies to provide timely advice." According to Burn, this means that EU members have agreed to "begin the groundwork" for identifying additional autonomous EU sanctions that can be imposed either 1) in support of a third UNSC resolution on Iran or 2) if the UNSC process fails to produce agreement on a third resolution. When Poloff pressed for confirmation that UK understood that this meant the EU was prepared to impose sanctions should the UNSC fail to pass a third resolution on Iran, Burn replied that, that was London's understanding, if the UNSC process "broke apart." Burn said that the traffic "would not bear" agreement on imposing EU sanctions between now and any UNSC resolution in mid-November, but London was pleased that the principle that autonomous sanctions outside of the UN process can be imposed was now agreed upon. Reaching this agreement had required pressure on Lisbon, in particular, Burn added. Burn welcomed the U.S. high-level demarche on sanctions (ref B) to be delivered in EU capitals (UK response reported septel). ¶3. (C) Kosovo: Burn anticipated the GAERC discussion will be short because the Troika has not yet reported to the Commission or Members. The EU Members know there will be little progress to report from the Troika, when they do deliver their views, and there is a new realization among all the members -- even those in the "neighborhood most hesitant to push Serbia" -- that the EU needs to plan for moving forward on the basis of the Ahtisaari plan and internationally-supervised independence. ¶4. (C) Libya: The Members have agreed to give a mandate to move forward on the Framework Agreement with Libya. London is pleased, Burn said, with the pace and progress of EU-Libyan relations. ¶5. (C) Iraq: A priority for the UK at the GAERC is reaching agreement on bolstering the EU's level and quality of engagement. UK wants, as a first step, for the Commission to invite the Iraqi Foreign Minister to the November GAERC, as well as increase the Commission's presence in Iraq. Burn told Poloff the Commission Secretariat is defensive and hesitant about stepped up engagement, in part because of the difficulty of carrying out operations on the ground. Burn echoed previous comments from colleagues in the EU Section that French willingness to push for more EU engagement has "changed the whole dynamic" of EU discussions on Iraq and there is not significant opposition to the idea "in principle" of greater EU engagement. ¶6. (C) Russia: The UK does not expect a substantive discussion as preparations for the Summit are finalized and "there is little left to say." ¶7. (C) Burma: The UK's goal is for the GAERC to produce a statement that will increase Special Envoy Gambari's leverage with the Burmese Government. Burn said the UK is proposing strengthening existing EU sanctions and wants agreement to look at what additional sanctions would be possible. ¶8. (C) Other Issues: Burn said that the WTO is no longer on the agenda for the GAERC, and discussion on Lebanon and Middle East will be very limited. The UK will intervene regarding Zimbabwe and propose that the EU appoint a working-level envoy who would report back to the Commission on the status of political and human rights in the country in the run-up to next year's election. This envoy, most likely drawn from the Commission Secretariat, would feed the Members "on the ground reality" about the situation over the next several months. Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm Tuttle