INTENSELY NEGATIVE REACTION TO ESTA FEE IN GERMANY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BERLIN 001170 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CE, EUR/ERA, CA/P AND CA/VO DHS FOR PLCY/OIA AND PLCY/VWPO E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2019 TAGS: CVIS CMGT PREL GM SUBJECT: INTENSELY NEGATIVE REACTION TO ESTA FEE IN GERMANY REF: A. BRUSSELS 1220 ¶B. STATE 93755 Classified By: DCM DELAWIE FOR REASONS 1.4(B) and (D) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Reaction in Germany to the ESTA fee-related provision of the Travel Promotion Act (TPA) has been vehemently disapproving. Even before the Senate vote on September 9, GOG officials and the media, including the national evening television news, highlighted their opposition to the proposed fee. Two of the primary concerns are data privacy, including credit card details on the Internet, and the view that a newly structured ESTA constitutes a visa. End summary. ¶2. (C) Along with the EU (ref A),the GOG has been tracking the TPA and the proposed ESTA fee. Over the days leading up to the Senate vote leading GOG officials raised the issue on several occasions with Embassy representatives. On Sep 4 MFA Political Director Volker Stanzel noted to Ambassador Murphy that this amounted to a subsidy for the US travel industry and there was a danger the EU might reciprocate if it is determined the fee was "tantamount to a visa." In his first meeting with the new Ambassador on Sep 9, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble registered German opposition, stating that it would discourage travel, a result inconsistent with the legislation's avowed purpose of encouraging foreign travelers to visit the U.S. On September 15, during his first meeting with Chancellor Merkel's Chief of Staff Thomas de Maiziere, the Ambassador heard the Chancellery's displeasure with the prospective fee including several of the above points. ¶3. (U) German media reaction has been uniformly negative. Germany's top circulation non-tabloid daily, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, ran an editorial on Sep 11 that compared the United States to the former East Germany by equating the ESTA fee to the forced exchange of foreign currency at unfavorable rates levied on visitors by the former communist regime. It further noted that the fee runs counter to the principle of free movement and is illogical since those charged would be travelling despite the trend, with the funds used to attract those not visiting the U.S. Virtually all major print and electronic outlets in Germany have published/broadcast equally vehement rejections of the proposed fee. Post has also received numerous e-mails from frequent VWP travelers who stridently oppose the fee and vow that they will cease traveling to the U.S. if the surcharge is imposed. ¶4. (SBU) Post will continue to track this issue and would appreciate continued guidance from the Department as offered in ref B. Murphy