ICAO ASSEMBLY: DUTCH ON SPLIT CURRENCY ASSESSMENTS

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 001858 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/T (LUFTIG) STATE FOR IO/MPR (FARIS) STATE FOR EB/TRA/OTP (WALKLET-TIGHE) MONTREAL FOR USICAO: FAUX-GABLE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ICAO NL SUBJECT: ICAO ASSEMBLY: DUTCH ON SPLIT CURRENCY ASSESSMENTS FOR TRIENNIAL BUDGET REF: STATE 127689 THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) On September 13, Econoff passed reftel proposed budget resolution and non-paper to Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works, and Water Management officials in the Directorate General for Freight Transport and Civil Aviation (DGTL) and in the Directorate for International and European Affairs. Despite repeated follow-up attempts, DGTL officials did not respond until October 4. ¶2. (SBU) Manon van Tintelen, Liaison Officer for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) within DGTL, told Econoff that the GONL had no formal position on the proposal but welcomed the decision of the 36th ICAO Assembly to postpone any final agreement until further discussions could take place in November. She said the GONL would ultimately support whichever decision would be fiscally less costly for both the ICAO and the Netherlands, noting that currency conversion processing consumes resources which could be better utilized elsewhere in the ICAO budget. Arnall