EU CONTINUES TO WEIGH ISRAEL AND SYRIA RELATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 000550 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2019 TAGS: PREL KPAL EU SUBJECT: EU CONTINUES TO WEIGH ISRAEL AND SYRIA RELATIONS UPGRADES REF: USEU BRUSSELS 476 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Christoper Murray for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: As reported reftel the 27 EU Foreign Ministers, meeting March 27 in the Czech Republic in the semi-annual informal "Gymnich" format (at which formal conclusions are not reached) discussed a number of Middle East issues, including whether and how to proceed with an upgrade of EU-Israel relations in the light of the Gaza conflict and the new government, and how to deal with Syria, particularly when and whether to proceed with signing the long-delayed EU-Syria Association Agreement. Interlocutors in Brussels have provided us some additional insight into prospects for both. On Israel, there will definitely not be a summit under the Czech presidency (originally planned for May),but opinions are very divided on how far to go in implementing the upgrade agreed in December 2008. This could be decided at the upcoming April 27-28 monthly foreign ministers' meeting (the GAERC). On Syria, member states and the Commission continue their technical examination and work on the Association Agreement initialed in December 2008. Most interlocutors believe that, unless Syria acts badly during the Lebanese elections, the Agreement will be signed early in the Swedish presidency (i.e., after July 1). The Dutch have, however, publicly expressed strong opposition to this, wanting a human rights suspension clause appended. Both issues require political decisions, made by consensus among Foreign Ministers. End Summary. -------------- Israel Upgrade on Hold -------------- ¶2. (C) According to the Czech PermRep Senior Advisor on the Middle East, Tomas Smetanka, progress on the upgrading of relations with Israel will move more slowly than anticipated before the Gaza conflict. Smetanka said that an EU-Israel summit, which the Czechs had planned to host in April, was definitively taken off the calendar earlier this year in the wake of the Gaza conflict and ongoing EU dissatisfaction with the difficulty in getting humanitarian and other assistance into Gaza (i.e., before the Czech domestic political crisis). He and Anna Jardfelt, the Swedish Mission Middle East counselor, separately expanded on what we reported reftel: in the wake of the Gaza conflict and with the installation of an Israeli government that the EU fears will not be committed to a two-state solution, there were strong arguments in favor of slowing (but not necessarily stopping) the upgrading of the EU-Israel relationship. ¶3. (C) Jardfelt reviewed developments in the last year on the upgrade. She noted that, when the EU-Israel Association Council (the standing body which governs implementation of the EU-Israel Association Agreement) announced in June 2008 the decision to upgrade relations, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the Roadmap and to peace negotiations. The upgrade is intended to build on the existing Association Agreement, and would expand areas of trade, diplomatic contact, and Israeli participation in some EU programs. (Note: Morocco is negotiating a similar upgrade.) In December 2008, despite some strident criticism of the upgrade in the European Parliament over the closure of Gaza and continued settlement activity, the EU Foreign Ministers voted to go forward. They planned an April 2008 summit in Prague as the ceremonial roll-out. Work began at a technical level on the upgrade agreements. A new "Action Plan" was the first order of business, as the current Action Plan expires in May. As we heard earlier from the Israeli DCM, most technical meetings halted with the start of the Gaza incursion in December 2008 and the Action Plan is not ready. ¶4. (C) Jardfelt and Smetanka referred to the contentious debate at the Gymnich (reftel) and said that it is unclear now how the EU will deal with the upgrade. Jardfelt said that, while it "is not a catastrophe" to have the Action Plan expire without a new one in place, it is symbolically important. An Association Council meeting is planned for May, with the upgrade, along with other routine issues, intended to be on the table. Jardfelt said that the meeting should go forward as planned, but other movement on the upgrade will depend on decisions taken at the April 27-28 GAERC. Neither Smetanka nor Jardfelt, nor a European Union Council Middle East expert, would predict where the GAERC would go, given intense ivisions. If there is no consensus BRUSSELS 00000550 002 OF 002 on going forward at the April GAERC, no significant steps will be taken in the near future. -------------- Syria Association Agreement -------------- ¶5. (C) As described Reftel, EU Foreign Ministers also discussed overall relations with Syria, including at what pace and under what conditions the EU Council should give the green light for the signing of the Association Agreement with Syria that was initialed in December 2008. (Note: Syria is one of the few Mediterranean countries that does not yet have an Association Agreement with the EU.) Both Smetanka and Jardfelt were of the opinion that the Agreement would move steadily forward and would likely be approved by the GAERC and signed early in the Swedish presidency, i.e., sometime after July 1. Jardfelt said that the current technical process involves a review of the Agreement by all member states to ensure that it was properly negotiated within the mandate given the Commission by the Council. Member states cannot request changes to the document without reopening the negotiations. There is no clearly set procedure for moving forward, but she and others said that it would most likely go straight to the Foreign Ministers meeting in the GAERC without passing again through the structured meetings of EU Political and Security Committee ambassadors in Brussels for another review. ¶6. (C) We heard separately from the Middle East counselor at the Dutch Permanent Representation that the Dutch are strongly opposed to moving forward unless some mechanism is created to give force to EU concerns on human rights in Syria. According to a press release from the Dutch Mission, Foreign Minister Verhagen reported to the Dutch Parliament that the Netherlands did not want to approve the Agreement until Syria improved its behavior in the region. Verhagen also complained that the Agreement's suspension clause does not refer to human rights or non-proliferation. He said the Netherlands wanted to add an "interpretative declaration" that would provide for suspension in case of serious problems in either area. Given the consensus nature of decision-making in the EU, the Netherlands would have to decide whether to stop consensus on the issue if it cannot get agreement on such a signing statement. As reported reftel, other Foreign Ministers have expressed concerns about Syria's behavior, but the overall mood seems to be supportive of Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner's view that greater engagement with Syria provides a vehicle to push them forward. Smetanka summed it up by assessing that, while many foreign ministers expressed concerns about Syria, it was not clear that any country was prepared to block the Agreement. Murray .