Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BRUSSELS1075
2009-08-06 05:17:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
USEU Brussels
Cable title:  

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: A FIRST LOOK AT THE NEW FOREIGN

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR ECON EUN 
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DE RUEHBS #1075/01 2180517
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P 060517Z AUG 09
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001075 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/ERA, EUR/RPM

E.O.: 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ECON EUN
SUBJECT: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: A FIRST LOOK AT THE NEW FOREIGN
AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

REF: BRUSSELS 826

Sensitive but Unclassified - please handle accordingly.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001075

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/ERA, EUR/RPM

E.O.: 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ECON EUN
SUBJECT: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: A FIRST LOOK AT THE NEW FOREIGN
AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

REF: BRUSSELS 826

Sensitive but Unclassified - please handle accordingly.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Although the European Parliament (EP) has less
decision-making power in foreign policy as compared to other EU
policy areas, the Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) is traditionally
a prestigious one and offers a platform for high-level visitors to
reach out to the EU. But the new AFET Committee leadership,
selected on July 16, has little high-level international experience,
and, with one exception, no history of interest in transatlantic
relations. The Committee has considerable depth, however, with
members including a dozen former government heads or ministers in
the foreign policy realm, and other high-profile figures, such as
former EP President Poettering. This report provides an initial
overview of the new leadership and membership of the AFET. The
European Parliament reconvenes in September. END SUMMARY.

--------------
THE COMMITTEE'S ROLE
--------------


2. (SBU) While the Foreign Affairs Committee (abbreviated by the
French acronym AFET) is responsible for foreign policy issues for
the EP, the EP lacks formal decision-making power in many
traditional foreign policy areas. Important aspects of the USG's
foreign policy relationship with the EU are negotiated in other
committees, including, for example, data privacy sharing agreements
as well as all EU legislation on financial services, environment or
industry-related fields. AFET nonetheless has some instruments to
exercise control, including giving assent to accession negotiations
of new member states, to cooperation agreements, and to association
agreements concluded with third countries. AFET also has influence
in determining the EP's budget for the external relations field.


3. (U) The Committee also offers a platform for third countries to
present their views. For example, leaders who addressed the AFET in
2008 include Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, former Israeli
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Arab League Secretary General Amr
Mousa, and Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko.

--------------
THIN RESUMES ON TOP, BUT CONSIDERABLE DEPTH

--------------


4. (SBU) Despite these recent high-profile visits and the
Committee's prestigious reputation, the AFET leadership, elected
July 16, does not have the foreign policy experience of previous
committees. A few staffers from political groups following the
committee privately expressed concerns about the qualifications of
the new leadership and about the imbalance of its representation.
Chairman Gabriele Albertini (Italian EPP),for example, is
relatively unknown in the foreign policy sphere. Moreover, there is
somethirnational eavers, for example,
are expeQted to gain more power if the Lisbon Treaty %nters into
force in January 2010.


6. (SBU) hile committee leaders hold agenda-setting
responsibilities, other members, such as political group
coordinators and rapporteurs (MEPs in charge of drafting reports on
specific issues) are also influential and will likely remain in the
hands of experienced MEPs, some with top-level experience in
transatlantic relations. For example, Elmar Brok, the EPP
coordinator, will almost surely also become the new chairman of the
EP delegation for relations with the U.S. Overall, the Committee
includes many qualified and experienced MEPs (per para 7).

--------------
WHO'S WHO IN THE NEW COMMITTEE
--------------


7. (SBU) The AFET committee leaders and political group coordinators
(with the exception of the Socialist group coordinator, who has not
yet been appointed) are:


BRUSSELS 00001075 002 OF 002


-- Gabriele Albertini, Chairman (EPP, Italy): A MEP since 2004
from the Italian center-right Forza party, Albertini was
vice-president of the delegation for relations with the NATO
parliamentary assembly and was a (not very active) member of the
delegation for relations with the U.S. He was also mayor of Milan
1997-2006.

-- Fiorello Provella, First Vice-Chairman (EFD, Italy): Provella
belongs to the small ultra-conservative and euroskeptic group EFD as
a member of the Italian "Lega Nord" party. His election as a first
vice-chairman elicited the only vocal opposition during the
nomination proceedings. The socialists decided to abstain from the
acclamation vote as a sign of protest.

-- Mircea Pascu, Second Vice-Chairman (Socialist S&D group,
Romania): Former Romanian Defense Minister and previous AFET
Vice-Chairman, Pascu is a respected and active MEP. A strong
trans-atlanticist, he was cited in the Council of Europe report on
"extraordinary renditions" and "CIA secret prisons" as a member of
the Romanian Government who helped the U.S. on these issues, an
accusation he strong denies.

-- Dominique Baudis, Third Vice-Chairman (EPP, France): An
international war correspondent for French television, Baudis
started his political career as Mayor of Toulouse from 1983 to 2000
and as a member of the French National Assembly from 1988 to 1997.
In 2000 he led the council that regulated French television and
radio. A somewhat sensational figure, he hit the headlines in 2003
when he was cited in a murder and rape case involving the serial
killer Partrice Alegre, and was later acquitted of all charges.

-- Jean-Luc Melenchon, Fourth Vice-Chairman (GUE-NGL, France):
Melenchon quit the French Socialist party to create his own
left-wing Parti de Gauche. He is a strong opponent to a European
constitution and to the Lisbon Treaty.

-- Jose Ignacio Salafranca, EPP Coordinator (Spain): A professor of
European law, Salafranca was elected to the EP in 1994 and has
served as the Committee's EPP coordinator since 2001, as well as the
EPP's spokesman in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Salafranca is a
specialist in Latin America and the Middle East. He proved a good
contact to the Mission during the last Parliamentary term.

-- Elmar Brok, EPP Coordinator (Germany): Brok has been in office
since 1979 and was Chairman of AFET from 2000 to 2007. He was also
(and will almost certainly remain) the EPP coordinator for
institutional issues. Known for his flamboyant and direct style,
Brok describes himself as an ally of the U.S., despite frequently
criticizing the former Bush Administration on Iraq, Guantanamo, the
ICC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the death penalty.

-- Annemie Neyts, ALDE Coordinator (Belgium): Neyts become the
Flemish Liberal Party's chairman for the Brussels region in 1995,
then Belgium's Minister of Trade during the late-2001 Belgian EU
Presidency. She presided over the EU Council during the Doha trade
talks. She has served as the party's coordinator since 2004.

-- In addition to these key MEPs, the Committee's high-profile
members include former Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis
(EPP); Finland's former Prime Minister (PM) Anneli Jaatteenmaki, and
Slovenia's former PM and Foreign Minister (FM) Alojz Peterle. Also
members are four other former foreign ministers: Adrian Severin
(Socialist S&D, Romania); Ioannis Kasoulides (EPP, Cyprus),
Kristiina Ojuland (ALDE, Estonia)and Eduard Kukan (EPP, Slovakia);
former defense ministers Jelko Kacin (EPP, Slovenia) and Kyriakos
Mavronikolas (Socialist S&D, Cyprus); former Polish Minister for
European Affairs and former AFET Chairman Jacek Saryuz-Wolski;
former President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Poettering,
and former leader of the ALDE group Graham Watson.

MURRAY