BELGIUM: SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING REQUEST FOR UPCOMING

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 001570 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR-IO/EX/FM, EUR-IO/EX/PMO, EUR/WE, EUR/ERA FOR WLUCAS, NDEAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AFIN AMGT PREL BE SUBJECT: BELGIUM: SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING REQUEST FOR UPCOMING EU PRESIDENCY ¶1. (U) Summary: On July 1, 2010, Belgium will assume the presidency of the EU council. Effective USG representation with Belgium will be especially important in the fall of 2010, because the Belgians will be engaged in implementing the structures of the EU under the Lisbon Treaty. The Pol/Econ section in Brussels will have a significant increase in reporting workload, travel and representational events over and above its day to day functions during the six month presidency. Post requests funding and staffing support at similar levels to Prague and Stockholm during their recent EU presidency experiences for the lead up to and duration of the Belgian EU presidency. Post reqires a total of $186,308. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Post has spoken to Paris, Prague and Stockholm to gauge the amount of resources it will need. In addition, post has met with USEU to clarify and delineate responsibilities between the two missions. It is clear that despite being in close proximity to USEU, post will not be able to draw on USEU offices for functions normally performed by embassies in EU presidency countries. USEU will continue to report on all meetings from the EU institutions and interface with EU commission and council officials. Embassy Brussels will be required to report on essentially different meetings chaired by the Belgian presidency which will be additional to its normal duties. Simply stated, USEU will cover formal meetings in Brussels and post will assume the responsibilities for all "informal" meetings, which are typically held in the hometowns of the hosting ministers. As all the non-Belgian ministers travel from outside of Belgium, these meetings generally last more than two days and finish late, which necessitates an increased travel and accommodation budget. Additional representational funds will be required to cultivate and develop key contacts from the GOB involved in the EU presidency before July 1, 2010. ¶3. (SBU) Staffing: The Pol/Econ section in Brussels has a total of five foreign service officers and two LES, similar staffing to Embassy Stockholm. In addition, the section head is often called on to fill in as Acting DCM for long stretches. Following the Stockholm model, post will require four additional FS personnel: one OMS and three Political/Economic Officers (One at the 02 level and two at 03 or below). ¶4. (SBU) Financial: Housing for additional employees: Post dopflow housing and cannot a of housing the extr`ties (Four Furnished A500 per month) = 4 x 4, Representation: Using thehe baseline with input fhd ` 2,400 Travel: Becauseral State with three di competitive regions, t over half of the elQrial meetings schedulQ Brussels. Of theQnot be pos day trQ ratio to apply to Qtings. In country: 2 FSOs x 10 trips x $50= $1,000 Lodging: 1 FSO x 5 trips x ((1.5 M&IE x 125) (200)) = $1,732 Madrid Torch Passing Dec 2009 (2 FSOs x 2 Days/Nights): Flights ($800) M&IE ($660) Lodging ($1,180) = $2,640 Budapest Torch Passing Dec 2010 (2 FSOs x 2 Days/Nights): Flights ($800) M&IE ($244) Lodging ($612) = $1,656 No funds required for travel to USEU for consultations or meetings held in Brussels, which has been a major expense for other posts during their EU presidencies. Travel Cost Total: $7,028 Overtime: Primarily for out-of-Brussels travel for LES and ELOs: $10,000 Interpretation: Some significant Belgian commentators (such as a personal weblog by the FM as in Sweden) will require translation. Post estimates that this will cost: 120 working days @ $50 = $6,000 Equipment: Blackberry - 4 x $395 = $1,580 (Cost of Blackberry $395) Computer Purchase - 4 x $1,100 (Unclass) 4 x $4,000 (Class) = $20,400 ICASS Fee for 4 TDYers = $20,900 (Includes Class, Unclass and Blackberry set ups) -------------- REQUESTED TOTAL = $186,308 -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The following are the same figures broken down into traditional financial categories: ¶A. Program Costs: S/Object FY-10 FY-11 1131/1134 Overtime $5,000 $5,000 2156 Travel $3,140 $2,156 (NOTE: Assumed $500 plus Madrid travel for FY-10) Lodging in BE $866 $866 2589 Rent Apartments $54,000 $54,000 Interpretation $3,000 $3,000 One-time start-up costs: 3100 Blackberries $1,580 Computers $20,400 Program Costs Total: $87,120 $64,156 ¶B. Representation: $6,200 $6,200 ¶C. ICASS: $20,900 Grand Total: $186,308 ¶6. (SBU) The requested additional funds are the minimum necessary to accomplish the additional responsibilities under Belgium's EU presidency and can be viewed as an investment by the USG to favorably influence implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and ensure that the USG's voice is heard during the Belgian EU presidency. We greatly appreciate EUR support for this request. EASON .