PREPARATIONS FOR THE U.S.-EU ENERGY COUNCIL

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 001302 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DOE FOR PDAS JONATHAN ELKIND E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EPET EUN SUBJECT: PREPARATIONS FOR THE U.S.-EU ENERGY COUNCIL Sensitive but Unclassified - not for Internet distribution. ¶1. (SBU) Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Richard Morningstar and DOE PDAS for Policy and International Affairs Jonathan Elkind met with EU officials on September 17 to discuss the proposed U.S.-EU Energy Council (UEEC). U.S. participants and EU participants from the Commission (DGs TREN, RTD, and RELEX),Council, and Swedish Presidency agreed that it is important to make sure the UEEC serves to highlight and strengthen those areas where we already have good cooperation, open the way to cooperation in new areas, and avoid duplication. ¶2. (SBU) There was broad agreement on both sides over the importance of establishing the UEEC to give a high-level political focus to U.S.-EU cooperation on energy. Participants agreed the UEEC should cover broad topics such as cooperation on energy technology and research, energy security, energy regulations, and energy relations with third countries. There was no formal decision on how the work of the UEEC would be structured. The U.S. co-chairs will be the $ecretary of State and the Secretary of Energy. Members of the UEEC on the EU side will include the Commissioners for External Relations, for Energy, and for Science and Research, as well as the EU Presidency, assisted by High Representative Solana. Participants agreed the UEEC should also highlight specific areas for cooperation such as U.S.-EU efforts on promoting reforms and rehabilitation of the gas system in Ukraine and smart grids where exchanges of information on technical and regulatory policies would benefit both sides of the Atlantic. ¶3. (SBU) At the meeting the U.S. and EU representatives agreed on the goal of formally announcing the UEEC at the upcoming U.S.-EU Summit, with a first meeting to take place shortly thereafter, possibly on the margins. As next steps, the U.S. will draft a one-page annex for the U.S.-EU Summit statement and U.S. and EU officials will coordinate via DVCs to ensure that the effort is moved forward in time for the Summit announcement. ¶4. (SBU) Ambassador Morningstar has cleared this cable. Murray .