SCENESETTER FOR S/E HOWARD WOLPE'S MEETINGS WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001194 SIPDIS STATE PASS AF/FO FOR KEITH AND LASRY, AF/C FOR LAMORA AND EUR/WE FOR MARCUS PARIS PASS TO ROBERTA KANEDA FOR WOLPE E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID MASSZF BE ZF SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR S/E HOWARD WOLPE'S MEETINGS WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION REF: A. A) STOCKHOLM 515 ¶B. B) BRUSSELS 1069 ¶C. C) USEU TODAY JULY 27 Classified By: USEU POL MC, CHRIS DAVIS, FOR REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D) Summary: -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Your visit will be welcomed as an opportunity to deepen US-EU cooperation in the Great Lakes region. The EU has been heartened by the Obama administration's approach to Africa, and during A/S Carson's US-EU Troika on Africa 14 July in Stockholm, it was noted that the U.S. and EU are more like-minded than ever before regarding the continent (REF A). There are many openings for furthering cooperation with the EU on the DRC and Great Lakes. Our contacts at the European Council in particular have been actively seeking more dialogue and closer coordination with the United States (REF B). End Summary. Recent EU Engagement -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The EU continues to deepen its engagement in Africa. The Cotonou Agreement, which is due for its second revision in 2010, has provided not only the framework and funding for that engagement, but is viewed by the EU as a useful structure for initiating political dialogue. The Africa-EU Strategic Partnership is moving forward on eight fronts: peace and security; democratic governance and human rights; trade, regional integration and infrastructure; millennium development goals; energy; climate change; migration, mobility and employment; and science, information society and space. EU involvement in the Great Lakes region is also increasing. The funding for humanitarian actions in the DRC was 30 million euros in 2007 and 2008. This increased to 45 million euros in 2009. In addition, many EU member states have significant bilateral assistance programs. Looking for U.S. Leadership -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Our contacts at the Commission, the Council, and ECHOhpt in closer coordinatio The Council has been pa@ hoping for more from thrly active. He he signals an intention fmoreconcerned abo suspension of the manda@o LRA-Affected Areas u and Eu restructure and rebuild the army. Member States are divided over how much EUSEC should focus on strategic level advising, advocated by Belgium, as opposed to specific projects, an approach supported by the UK among others. Among the promising successes of EUSEC is the chain of payments project, intended to help establish a corruption-free payment system for Congolese army units. There is also tension between EUSEC and the European Commission over which organization should oversee specific projects, and disagreement among Member States over how much EUSEC should coordinate European bilateral efforts. The EU is currently developing a new operations plan to take effect in October, but it will BRUSSELS 00001194 002 OF 002 probably not resolve these tensions. ¶5. (U) You will meet with Mika-Markus Leinonen, Director of Civilian Crisis Management and Marco Solaini, Head of the Africa Section in the Civil Planning and Conduct Capability, who can speak to EUPOL issues. You will also meet Claude-France Arnould, Director of Defense Issues at the Council Secretariat, who can speak to EUSEC issues. Both EUPOL and EUSEC are increasing their efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence. Given the Secretary's recent strong comments and funding commitment, your counterparts may want to discuss potential areas of cooperation and collaboration. They may want to know more about our initiatives, and may look to you to suggest specific areas where we can partner. The PSC Ambassadors -------------- ¶6. (C) The Charge will host a lunch for you with some Ambassadors from the Political and Security Committee (PSC). This is an important group, as EU foreign and security policy is developed through a continuous process of consensus building in the PSC. The PSC is made up of ambassadors from all 27 member states who meet at least twice a week to debate and prepare decisions on the full range of external relations issues of concern to the EU. Their discussions lead the way for agreed positions of their foreign ministers, who convene monthly at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) meetings. The PSC is led by the representative of the rotational EU presidency--at this time the Swedes. They and we have asked that you meet with the PSC Ambassadors most closely involved in Africa. MURRAY .