ICAO ASSEMBLY: AUSTRIAN POSITIONS

UNCLAS VIENNA 002408 SIPDIS SIPDIS, SENSITIVE STATE FOR EB/TRA AND EUR/AGS PARIS FOR FAA/LLIU FRANKFURT FOR TSA/ABROWN MONTREAL FOR USICAO/LFAUX-GABLE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR PREL ECON ETRD SENV AORC ICAO AU SUBJECT: ICAO ASSEMBLY: AUSTRIAN POSITIONS REFS: A) STATE 127689 B) STATE 115443 C) STATE 83246 D) STATE 77572 E) VIENNA 2327 ¶1. (SBU) On September 11, emboffs met with Manfred Bialonczyk, Director General of Civil Aviation and Head of the Aviation Division in the Ministry of Transportation (MoT) to present USG positions in refs B, C, and D. Following receipt of ref A, post transmitted talking points to Bialonczyk, who said he would review the U.S. position on split-currency assessments for the triennial budget. Bialonczyk offered the following comments on refs B-D points: Re-election of the United States to Part I of the ICAO Council: Bialonczyk would not formally commit to Austrian support, but implied that it would be forthcoming. He added that Austria did not foresee any problems with the re-election of the United States. Emissions trading: Austria is committed to a common EU approach, but he emphasized that the MoT had reservations about how far the EU position had gone. Bialonczyk added that such an emissions scheme should be implemented on a global level, not only within the EU. Moreover, revenues from emissions trading should be used to promote new technologies and increase fuel efficiency, rather than for national or EU budget coffers. Bialonczyk told us that he would present these points to the head of the Austrian delegation to the ICAO Assembly, MoT State Secretary Christa Kranzl (ref E). However, Bialonczyk acknowledged that the Ministry of Environment had the lead on this issue within the GoA. Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP): According to Bialonczyk, the GoA supported the USG positions and would consider co-sponsoring the U.S. working paper. Safety Oversight - Technical Assistance: Bialonczyk said the GoA supported the U.S. proposals. Air Navigation Systems - GPS-SPS/WAAS Availability: Austria was bound to support the development of Galileo. However, Bialonczyk confided that he did not share the concerns of some in the EU that the USG might shut off the GPS signal in a crisis. Moreover, in Bialonczyk's opinion, the cost of Galileo did not justify its development. Universal Security Audit Program: Bialonczyk pointed to the GoA's willingness to share all information relevant to security with the U.S. and ICAO. However, he noted that, at present, Austria shares much more data with the U.S., than the U.S. does with Austria. Adequate protections for data privacy were also an important issue for Austria. Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Bialonczyk opined that the primary problem is the protection of a frequency spectrum. Halon Replacement: Austria supports the USG position and has already replaced almost all of its halon fire extinguishers. MCCAW