WTO/GAMBLING: DUTCH ON THE SIDELINES FOR NOW

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 002066 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB/TPP/MTA (CHENNINGER) STATE ALSO FOR EUR/WE (TSMITH),EUR/ERA STATE PLEASE PASS USTR FOR TFINE USEU FOR DMULLANEY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD WTRO NL SUBJECT: WTO/GAMBLING: DUTCH ON THE SIDELINES FOR NOW REF: STATE 165472 THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) On December 11, Econoff delivered reftel points seeking support for the USG invocation of Article XXI in the case of Internet gambling and betting services to Wink Joosten, Policy Officer, Trade Policy Department, Directorate for Foreign Economic Relations, Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Joosten is responsible for formulating GONL positions on trade and services issues within the EU 133 Trade Committee. He said the Dutch were well aware of the case and the U.S. compensation offer. He noted the Dutch, unlike the UK and Malta, did not have a "strong" opinion on the case, as Dutch economic interests were very limited. ¶2. (SBU) Joosten commented that the parties in the case might opt to extend the deadline for the negotiations, as they had done previously. For now, he said the GONL was adopting a "wait and see" approach and anticipating feedback from the Commission on next steps at the December 19 133 Committee meeting. Joosten added that the case had raised concerns within the GONL about the need to ensure the appropriate use of the WTO Article XXI procedure, especially in cases involving the withdrawal or change of service commitments. Gallagher