SPANISH VIEWS ON WIPO GENERAL ELECTION FOR

UNCLAS MADRID 000528 SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/T LLUFTIG, EEB/IPE JEURBAN AND USMISSION GENIEVA FOR LCARLE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC WIPO KIPR ETRD PREL SP SUBJECT: SPANISH VIEWS ON WIPO GENERAL ELECTION FOR DIRECTOR GENERAL REF: STATE 47559 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Spain wants to see a technically qualified candidate lead the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In the end, largely because of the controversy surrounding Kamil Idris' early departure, Spain does not think it will be possible for a candidate from an industrialized country to win enough votes to become Director General. There will be no consensus EU candidate. End Summary ¶2. (SBU) In Spain, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has the lead on UN agency candidate selection decisions. With respect to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),the Spanish Ministry of Culture, which occasionally sends a representative to WIPO meetings, also has a certain amount of influence on Spanish policy. The Culture Ministry's Subdirector General for Intellectual Property, Pedro Colmenares, told EconOff on May 8 that Spain thought that Mexico's Jorge Amigo would make a good candidate. However, Colmenares suggested that EconOff go to the MFA for a more definitive Spanish position. ¶3. (SBU) EconOff spoke on May 12 with MFA Subdirector for International Economic Organizations, Enrique Yturriaga Saldanha. Yturriaga told EconOff that there will be no common EU position at the upcoming May 14 WIPO meeting because of the 15 candidates, four are from the EU. Yturriaga said that Spain would have no objection to Amigo, but that Amigo's candidacy might be fatally flawed because he did not have the full support of the regional group that Mexico belongs to given Brazil's "strong" candidate. The Kenyan candidate might be a good option because he was technically qualified and might assuage African sensibilities over Idris' early departure. From Spain's perspective, the Australian candidate was also a good possibility. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: According to Colmenares, there will likely be several rounds of voting. Besides getting a qualified candidate for the position, Spain is also keen to increase its representation in WIPO so that will likely also be a factor in Spanish decisionmaking. Llorens