EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON POTENTIAL PAKISTAN DONORS

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 001883 SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR SCA/PB, EUR/ERA DANIEL WEISFIELD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN IBRD IMF PK SUBJECT: EUROPEAN COMMISSION ON POTENTIAL PAKISTAN DONORS CONFERENCE IN EARLY 2009 REF: A. A. SECSTATE 129615 ¶B. B. USEU TODAY DECEMBER 3 2008 (SBU) In response to Ref A demarche, European Commission RELEX Head of Unit for Afghanistan and Pakistan David Tirr said that Commission participation would depend on the location of the Pakistan donors conference. He explained that Commissioner for External Relations Ferrero-Waldner would not be able to go to Islamabad more than once in the early part of 2009. She already plans to go to Islamabad for the EU-Pakistan Foreign Ministerial troika, tentatively scheduled to take place February 9-10, 2009. From the Commission's perspective, it would be convenient if the Friends of Pakistan ministerial meeting could take place in conjunction with the EU Foreign Ministerial and if the proposed donors conference could also take place in the same timeframe. Regarding a potential pledge, Tirr said that the Commission still needed more time and political guidance from member states. He suggested (stressing this information was not for public consumption) that for a January conference the Commission would only be able to offer approximately 200 million euros in loans from the European Investment Bank for renewable energy, in addition to approximately 50 million euros under the food facility, as Commission Director for Asia had explained to Assistant Secretary Boucher on December 2 in Brussels (Ref B). Only later would the Commission be able to determine if new money could be found. He added that the Commission remains interested in a possible World Bank-administered frontier trust fund for Pakistan. MURRAY .