GOI MIN TRANSPORT ASKS EU TRANSPORT COMMISSIONER

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000777 SIPDIS STATE PASS FOR EEB/TRA/OTP MEGAN WALKLET-TIGHE, EUR/ERA PEGGY WALKER USEU PASS TO KATHY MORENSKI, FAA KURT EDWARDS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2018 TAGS: EAIR ECON ETRD SENV IT SUBJECT: GOI MIN TRANSPORT ASKS EU TRANSPORT COMMISSIONER TO RAISE ETS CONCERNS IN BRUSSELS REF: A. ROME 731 B. STATE 57123 Classified By: ECONOMIC COUNSELOR WILLIAM MEARA FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Econ Couns met with Achille Vinci-Giacchi, Diplomatic Advisor to the Italian Minister of Transport, and with Massimo Gaiani, GOI's Director of the Secretariat for Coordinating European Union (EU) Affairs, to encourage the GOI to raise concerns about the EU's proposed aviation Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) legislation with EU authorities. Vinci-Giacchi subsequently discussed the ETS with Minister of Transportation Altero Matteoli, who in turn asked European Commissioner for Transportation Antonio Tajani to raise concerns about it at the EU level. Embassy will continue to raise this issue at high levels in the GOI. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) After meeting with Econ Couns, Vinci-Giacchi agreed to bring up the matter with Matteoli. Vinci-Giacchi later reported to us that Matteoli agreed with the USG position on addressing ETS in the context of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Matteoli proposed further U.S.-EU dialogue on the matter. According to Vinci-Giacchi, Matteoli then contacted Tajani, asking him to discuss concerns about ETS with EU member states and to consider U.S. concerns about the scheme. ¶3. (C) In a subsequent conversation with Econ Off, Vinci-Giacchi confirmed that the GOI agreed that international discussions about ETS should take place in ICAO. He clarified that while the GOI thought the EU should confer informally with U.S. aviation authorities before taking the subject back to ICAO, the GOI was not suggesting that these consultations supplant ICAO talks. ¶4. (C) Gaiani's aide informed Econ Couns that the new GOI had not yet consulted internally on the ETS matter, and was therefore not able to commit to any action at this point. He did note however that Italy and several EU countries had problems with elements of the proposed ETS legislation as currently formulated, including the proposal's potential impact on Alitalia. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: While it is still not certain that Tajani or any GOI figure will actually raise our ETS concerns with the EU, Vinci-Giacchi's and Matteoli's apparent agreement with the USG position makes such an outcome seem possible. Based on Vinci-Giacchi's report of Matteoli's conversation with Tajani, Embassy will continue to raise this issue at high levels in the GOI. In addition, the revelation that EU member states themselves have problems with the EU's approach to ETS suggests that there may be room to modify the legislation. END COMMENT SPOGLI