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
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