DUTCH TRANSPORT MINISTER FOCUSED ON MOBILITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001872 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/WE (TSMITH),EUR/ERA STATE ALSO FOR EEB/TRA/OTP USDOC FOR 4212/USFCS/MAC/OWE/DCALVERT USEU FOR KMORENSKY E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2017 TAGS: SENV ECON PGOV PINR NL SUBJECT: DUTCH TRANSPORT MINISTER FOCUSED ON MOBILITY REF: THE HAGUE 1630 Classified By: AMBASSADOR ROLAND ARNALL, REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Dutch Transport Minister Eurlings believes a more rational, practical approach is needed for tackling mobility and traffic congestion in the Netherlands. He recently told Ambassador Arnall that he plans to use his October 15-19 trip to the United States to learn more about American approaches to these issues. Eurlings (33) is one of the youngest Dutch cabinet ministers ever and is considered by many to be a future party leader for the Christian Democrats. His pro-American leanings should bode well for maintaining and strengthening U.S.-Dutch cooperation on transport, civil aviation, climate change, and water management issues. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) On October 3, Ambassador Arnall called on Camiel Eurlings, Dutch Minister of Transport, Public Works, and Water Management (MOT),to discuss his October 15-19 visit to the United States. Econoff accompanied the Ambassador to the meeting. Other MOT participants included Erik Bouwmeester, Deputy Head of International and European Relations, and Hans de Jong, Transportation Counselor at the Dutch Embassy in Washington. TACKLING CONGESTION AND IMPROVING MOBILITY -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Eurlings noted that the Dutch had previously battled traffic congestion and related growth problems with a more ideological approach in order to sustain the status quo without building new infrastructure. This approach was based on the assumption that people would choose to use public transportation if vehicle ownership taxes were high enough. Despite the higher costs, however, a majority of Dutch continue to drive their personal vehicles rather than use public transportation. With this in mind, Eurlings said the GONL had decided that a shift was needed from an ideological to a more rational, practical approach for dealing with congestion. He acknowledged that some of the measures the MOT was considering (i.e., road usage taxes) would be politically unpopular with the Dutch public. Ultimately, such steps were necessary to help tackle congestion and growth-related issues while also preserving the public's right to choose their own mode of transportation, he stressed. (See reftel for additional reporting on GONL plans to combat traffic congestion.) ¶4. (SBU) Eurlings said he hoped to learn more about American approaches to these issues during his upcoming visit to the United States. His travels, he added, would include California, a state with large mobility issues and a minimal public transport infrastructure. He said he would be seeking meetings with U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and California State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He welcomed any Embassy support in scheduling these meetings. The overall focus of the visit will be on mobility, road safety, climate change, and civil aviation issues. (NOTE: Post has already passed Eurling's meeting request with Secretary Peters to DOT officials. END NOTES.) ¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that former California Governor Jerry Brown had dealt with similar congestion issues. At the time, many of Brown's policies were also quite unpopular and were gained at great political cost. In hindsight, however, many believed that Brown had done the right the thing in pushing through measures that paved the way for future growth and congestion relief, the Ambassador added. PRO-AMERICAN FOCUS -------------- ¶6. (C) In his comments on current events, Eurlings' views were largely pro-American. Emphasizing that Iran was also a significant concern for the GONL, he said the GONL continued to see sanctions as a means of keeping the current Iranian regime in check. He welcomed the recent election of French President Sarkozy and was hopeful that Sarkozy's more pro-American views would serve to refresh the debate within THE HAGUE 00001872 002 OF 002 Europe on Iran, energy security, and democracy in Russian. On the latter, Eurlings said he was especially worried by apparent shifts in some European countries to appease the Kremlin. He cited Hungary as an example of a nation that had begun to sell off its strategic assets to Russia. COMMENT/BIO INFORMATION: A FUTURE LEADER? -------------- ¶7. (C) Eurlings was elected to the Dutch parliament (Second Chamber) in 1998 when he was only 24 years old. He quickly became one of the most popular politicians in the Second Chamber and has been viewed as a possible successor to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende within the Christian Democrat (CDA) Party. In 2004, he joined the European Parliament (EP) as the head of the CDA delegation and served as the Rapporteur on Turkey. In 2006, Eulings drafted an EP report on the status of Turky's accession to the EU. The report was adopted by the EP Foreign Affairs Committee and received idespread attention. Publicly, Turkey was highly ritical of the report, which noted that Turkey sill had a long way to go to join the EU, includig the need to acknowledge the Armenian genocide and to deal properly with other human rights issue. The report received extensive praise from Europeans opposed to Turkish accession and made a name for Eurlings outside of the Netherlands. 8, (C) Only 33 years old, Eurlings is one of the youngest Dutch cabinet ministers ever and is considered by many to be a future party leader for the CDA. Hailing from Limburg in the south of the Netherlands, he is part of a more conservative wing within the centrist CDA. His pro-American leanings should bode well for maintaining the Dutch as an ally on such key issues as implementing the U.S.-EU Open Skies agreement and strengthening U.S.-Dutch cooperation in the area of climate change and water management -- all areas that fall within his portfolio as Minister. Arnall