ITALY LEANING TOWARD UAE FOR IRENA HEADQUARTERS, STILL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000736

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

EUR/PGI FOR D. TESSLER
EUR/WE FOR C. JESTER AND S. HARTMANN
EEB/ESC FOR DANIELLE MONOSSON
IO/EDA FOR REBECCA WEBER
OES/EGC FOR GRIFF THOMPSON
DOE FOR P. YOSHIDA AND J. SKEER
EPA FOR A. PHILLIPS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG KGHG TRGY SENV KSCA IEA IT
SUBJECT: ITALY LEANING TOWARD UAE FOR IRENA HEADQUARTERS, STILL
CONSIDERING DIRECTOR GENERAL CHOICE

Refs: a) 6/22/09 Preston-Monosson e-mail b) State 59969

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1. (SBU) Summary. Italian Foreign Ministry officials said Italy is
leaning toward the choice of the United Arab Emirates as the
headquarters for the new International Renewable Energy Agency
(IRENA),but the Italian position could still change if there are
"important advances" in the case for Bonn or Vienna. Italy is now
conducting bilateral consultations on the Director General choice,
and will decide based on the concrete proposals for IRENA that the
different candidates make. Italy wants very much to avoid
duplication between IRENA and the International Energy Agency, and
believes IRENA's focus should be on renewable energy technology
deployment in developing countries and capacity-building. Italian
ratification of the IRENA Stature is likely to take 12-18 months
from now. The officials expressed enthusiasm about the possibility
that the U.S. will join IRENA, and asked for an update on USG
consultations with Congress and on the composition of the U.S.
delegation (see para 9 action request). End summary.

ITALY LEANING TOWARD UAE HQ, BUT IT'S NOT A DONE DEAL
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2. (SBU) Per ref b),on June 22 and 23 ECONOFF and SCICouns spoke
with Italian Foreign Ministry (MFA) energy experts Massimiliano
Calamea and Andrea Marroni about Italy's views on the International
Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). They stated that an Italian
inter-ministerial committee decided on June 23 that while Italy will
not give an official public position on the choice of a headquarters
(HQ) site for IRENA, the GOI will express in informal contacts with
other governments a preference for the UAE. Calamea and Marroni
noted that if "important advances in the case for Bonn or Vienna
were to be made," that position could change. Calamea noted
informally that Portugal has already declared its support for the
UAE HQ site, and Spain has told him that they will support it as
well. (In turn, UAE reportedly will support the Spanish candidate
for DG.) Calamea said he also had heard a rumor that France would
support the UAE site, and that Austria would support Germany.


3. (SBU) Marroni noted that that German Chancellor Merkel had
written to Italian PM Berlusconi the week before asking for his
support for Bonn as the headquarters choice. He commented that the
German Government was "frustrated" that after all the work they had
put into getting IRENA off the ground, the headquarters might end up
in the UAE. Marroni asked if the U.S. had also received such a
letter, and how the USG was dealing with German frustration on the
headquarters issue, given the clear U.S. support for the UAE site.


CONSULTATIONS FOR DG CANDIDATE ONGOING
--------------


4. (SBU) Calamea and Marroni said that the inter-ministerial
committee did not provide political-level guidance for the Italian
delegation regarding the choice of a Director General (DG)
candidate. Instead, GOI officials will be reaching out to the
remaining DG candidates this week, and will choose among them based
on how closely their proposals reflect Italy's objectives for IRENA.
Calamea noted that the Nigerian candidate had withdrawn his
candidacy, leaving only European candidates for the position. This
strengthens the case for the UAE headquarters choice, Calamea said,
since many developing countries do not want IRENA to be seen as a
European project, and having both a European DG and HQ would give
that impression.

ITALIAN VISION FOR IRENA, PROPOSALS FOR ITS STRUCTURE
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5. (SBU) According to Calamea, Italy wants to avoid the overlapping
of IRENA's work with that of the IEA, especially since Paolo Frankl,
an Italian, is likely to head the IEA's new renewable energy
division. He said that Italy in particular does not want IRENA to
re-produce the kind of scenarios that the IEA does. Calamea stated
that IRENA instead should focus on capacity-building and technology
transfer.


6. (SBU) According to Calamea, Italy would like to see at the Egypt

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meeting next week concrete discussions on the structure of IRENA,
and that Italy's proposal in this respect would be along these
lines:

a) an advisory board to provide private sector perspective, drawing
on the EU experience with the solar technology platform; and

b) some type of regional and/or thematic groupings (say,
concentrating solar, North Africa; geothermal, Chile; hydro power,
Balkans); there could also be regional responsibilities for
information-sharing, in areas such as the Mediterranean basin,
sub-Saharan Africa, Central America.

Calamea added that at the Egypt meeting Italy would also be
interested in better understanding the types of directorates that
are being proposed for IRENA, such as perhaps one for mature
technologies, one for experimental technologies, and one for
external affairs/outreach.

ITALIAN RATIFICATION IN 12-18 MONTHS, FUNDING SCENARIOS
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7. (SBU) Calamea estimated a 1-year to 1.5-year time frame from now
for Italy to ratify the IRENA Statute, but he qualified that has not
been following this issue closely. He also opined that Italy could
make voluntary contributions similar in amount to its assessed
contributions until ratification takes place, but that this is not
certain at this point. Marroni noted that in Italy's view, the
proposed UAE funds should be additional to the contributions of
member nations, not a substitute for them. He added that IRENA
should meet the standards of international organizations in terms of
transparency in budget and staff selection, and not become overly
influenced by the UAE contributions.

ITALIAN INQUIRIES ON U.S. POSITION, DELEGATION
-------------- -


8. (SBU) Our Italian interlocutors inquired about the U.S. position
on joining IRENA, and requested an update on the ongoing
consultation with Congress. Marroni asked about the composition of
the U.S. delegation to the June 28-30 IRENA preparatory meeting in
Egypt, and in particular if the Department of Energy would be
represented. He noted that "one word from Secretary Chu" in support
of IRENA would make a huge difference for the organization. Both
Calamea and Marroni are expected to be part of the Italian
delegation. The senior MFA delegate will be Minister Pier Benedetto
Francese of the MFA's Economic Bureau, but the head of delegation
may in the end be from the Economic Development Ministry, which has
responsibility for energy affairs. (Note: Calamea is on loan to the
MFA from Italian para-statal electricity firm ENEL, and Marroni is
on loan from a government-owned company that promotes renewable
energy, Gestori Servizi Elettrici (GSE). End note).


ACTION REQUEST
--------------


9. (SBU) Post would appreciate any information which can be shared
with the GOI about the Administration's consultations with Congress
on joining IRENA; members of the U.S. delegation to the June 28-30
meeting; and U.S.-Germany consultations on the IRENA HQ issue. In
order for Post to share the information with the GOI before the
meeting, Post would need to receive it by opening of business
Washington time on June 26.
DIBBLE