SPAIN'S STANCE ON JOINING AND CONTRIBUTING TO A

UNCLAS MADRID 001804 SIPDIS SIPDIS S/P FOR JEAN GERAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON SP OECD EAID EUN SUBJECT: SPAIN'S STANCE ON JOINING AND CONTRIBUTING TO A PARTNERSHIP FOR DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE REF: STATE 108794 ¶1. (SBU) On September 13, MFA's Deputy Director for Multilateral Economic Issues Juan Luis Munoz de Laborde told EconOff that Spain would postpone joining or contributing financially to the Partnership for Democratic Governance (PDG) until it became clearer what role and form the fledging organization would take. Munoz de Laborde said that in concept Spain was in favor of the proposal and had been one its supporters in the OECD for the July 12 vote to establish the organization. However, he repeated, the GOS was not inclined to pledge funding nor join the organization until the GOS has a better sense of how the organization would materialize in its implementation. ¶2. (SBU) In support of the PDG, Econoff noted that contributing financially or joining the PDG would allow Spain the opportunity to play a role in developing the organization's identity and direction. EconOff explained that the US and the PDG steering group partners would roll out the PDG at the margin of this year's UN General Assembly meeting. EconOff added that Spain's support would contribute to the success of this rollout and the program's efforts to assist emerging democracies build governance capacity. Munoz de Laborde expressed appreciation for these and other reftel points and agreed to continue the dialogue on this initiative. AGUIRRE