ITALIAN SHERPA MASSOLO SEEKS USG VIEWS ON G8

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 001540

SIPDIS

E STAFF FOR AMY WESTLING
P STAFF FOR DAVID VAN CLEVE
NSC FOR PAUL BROWN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EFIN EAID SENV OVIP OTRA IT
SUBJECT: ITALIAN SHERPA MASSOLO SEEKS USG VIEWS ON G8
SUMMIT FORMAT

REF: A. ROME DAILY REPORT 12/5/08

B. ROME 1484

C. ROME 1327

D. ROME 1510

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Elizabeth Dibble for reasons 1.4
(b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: Italian G8 Sherpa Giampiero Massolo told the
DCM on December 15 that Italy wants to resist pressures to
expand the G8 format during its 2009 Presidency. He asked
whether the new U.S. Administration would favor another Major
Economies leaders' Meeting (MEM) at the Summit to deal with
climate change, and worried that some G8 members are becoming
enamored of the G20 format. Italy is prepared to host both
an MEM and a G20 finance meeting at the Summit itself if
necessary. Massolo has proposed a later date than usual for
the first Sherpa meeting (February 2-3, Naples),in part to
give the new U.S. Administration time to organize its G8
team. Italy will seek to add Egypt to the G8 plus 5 session
on the second day of the La Maddalena Summit (July 8-10,
2009) to accommodate PM Berlusconi's personal invitation to
President Mubarak. End Summary.

Italy Adds Egypt to the G8 plus 5....
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2. (C) DCM, PolMin and Poloff met with MFA Secretary General
and G8 Sherpa Ambassador Giampiero Massolo on December 15 to
discuss Italy's recently-announced format for its G8
Presidency in 2009. Massolo said that despite the expanded
format announced by PM Berlusconi on December 4 (Ref A),
Italy wants to resist pressure from France and the UK (PM
Brown, specifically) to broaden G8 participation (Ref B). He
said that the inclusion of Egypt in the G8 plus 5 session was
necessary to accommodate PM Berlusconi's personal invitation
to President Mubarak, but dismissed the rumor that Italy
would invite the Arab League as an observer, saying it would
be a very bad idea. (Massolo noted that he had raised the
inclusion of Egypt at the last Sherpa meeting in Japan and
met with no objections). Italy has proposed a later date
than usual for the first Sherpa meeting (February 2-3,
Naples),in part to give the new U.S. Administration time to
organize its G8 team.

... But Resists Expansion into the G20
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3. (C) Massolo asked for U.S. input on two key questions: (1)
the debate over the relationship between the G8 and G20 and
(2) whether to hold another Major Economies leaders' Meeting
(MEM) on climate change to follow the one held at the Toyako
Summit. On the G8-G20 question, Massolo noted that in the
wake of the November meeting of the G20 in Washington there
are those even within the G8 who suggest that to remain
relevant the G8 plus 5 should dissolve into the G20. In the
debate among "articulators" and "enlargers," Italy counts
itself among the first camp (along with Canada, Japan, Russia
and -- to a degree -- Germany): those who want to defend the
G13 format from encroachments from the G20. Among the G5,
Brazil and Mexico are opposed to expansion, while China is
drawn to the G20 because it would be less isolated there.
Italy regards the G20 format as too unwieldy to deal
effectively with the range of issues confronting the
international community, and some G20 members are "manifestly
out of tune" with the "like-minded" G8. He noted that the

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G20 gathered in November at the level of heads of government
under the pressure of the global financial crisis, whereas
the G13 meet by choice; it would be a shame to do subsume the
G13 "just for the sake of choreography."


4. (SBU) Echoing concerns voiced by Italian Sous-Sherpa La
Tella in a November meeting with EPA officials (Ref C),
Massolo noted that Italy is willing to hold a Major Economies
leaders' Meeting (MEM) (G8 plus 5 plus Australia, Indonesia,
South Korea and the EU) to deal with climate change, as the
Japanese did at the Toyako Summit, but the new U.S.
Administration would have to be fully on board to bring
developing countries into a useful dialogue on emissions.
The MEM session at Toyako, he said, fell short of its goal; a
follow-up meeting in Italy would have to "go the extra mile"
in order to set the groundwork for a successful UN Climate
Summit at Copenhagen in December 2009. Italy is prepared to
hold a meeting of the Major Economies' negotiators on Energy
Security and Climate Change in late February or early March,
either before or after the preparatory meeting for the
Environmental Ministerial (Ref D),if ME members feel it is
useful.

Summit Format: Three Packed Days
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5. (SBU) Massolo confirmed that the format at La Maddalena
would be a slightly expanded version of Toyako: Day 1 (July
8) will be the G8 members alone. Day 2 (July 9) will be the
G8 plus G5 (China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa),
plus Egypt. The novelty that Italy proposes for this meeting
(the last of the Heilegendamm Process meetings) is to hold it
in formal session (as opposed to a working lunch) and produce
a Summit Declaration, probably on principles of shared
responsibility for growth and sustainable development.


6. (SBU) For Day 3 (July 10),Massolo listed a number of
options: a G8 plus 5 plus Africa session, an MEM, and/or a
G20 finance meeting -- or all of the above. He said that
Italy would like to host the by-now traditional tripartite G8
plus 5 plus Africa session, with the theme being shared
responsibility between developed, emerging and developing
countries in confronting global challenges. There would be
no joint declaration for this session. Italy would also
leave room for an MEM session on climate change, with a
declaration. If necessary, Italy could also accommodate a G20
Finance meeting, which some G20 members have suggested may be
necessary if the London G20 meeting on April 2 fails to make
the needed headway. Massolo implied that Italy would rather
have the G20 in La Maddalena, safely within the G8 format,
than see it hold a competing session (possibly at heads of
government level) elsewhere.


7. (C) Comment: The GOI clearly feels under pressure from
France and others to expand its Summit format or risk seeing
the G8 become irrelevant on its watch. By offering a range
of session formats, Italy appears to be hedging its bets that
whichever format eventually triumphs will seek a stage at La
Maddalena. The risk, however, is that by offering something
for everybody, Italy will dilute the substance of the Summit
-- and bolster the arguments of those who say the G8 is
irrelevant.
SPOGLI