Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09STOCKHOLM467
2009-07-28 07:22:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Stockholm
Cable title:  

SWEDISH EU PRESIDENCY TALKS TURKEY LEFTOVERS

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL EUN TU SW 
pdf how-to read a cable
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P 280722Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4571
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 0154
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS PRIORITY 0101
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 0026
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO BRUSSELS BE PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0330
C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 000467 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL EUN TU SW
SUBJECT: SWEDISH EU PRESIDENCY TALKS TURKEY LEFTOVERS

REF: STATE 77689

Classified By: POLCOUNS MARC KOEHLER FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 000467

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL EUN TU SW
SUBJECT: SWEDISH EU PRESIDENCY TALKS TURKEY LEFTOVERS

REF: STATE 77689

Classified By: POLCOUNS MARC KOEHLER FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) AND (d).


1. (C) Summary: Following a July 19 DVC between EUR DAS Matt
Bryza and Swedish MFA Director of EU Affairs Lars Wahlund
(reftel),PolOff meet with Peder Spangberg, Turkey Desk
Officer on July 23 for follow-up. Spangberg said his ideal
outcome from the EU Presidency on December 31 is "handing
everything off with nothing broken." Spangberg said Sweden
thinks it likely that only one, maybe two accession chapters
will be opened during their time as EU President. He stated
that Chapter 27 on the Environment was the most likely
chapter. The Swedes plan to ask the Commission to present a
public evaluation of Turkey's progress on all of the
accession chapters in order to help secure a favorable
progress report. End Summary

--------------
EU WORKING GROUP
--------------


2. (SBU) Spangberg confirmed that there is currently a
working group of EU Member States in Ankara that meet
regularly to coordinate their message to the Turks. The
working group is composed of Great Britain, Italy, Spain, and
Sweden. Spangberg noted that as the EU President, Sweden was
not involved at this time in pushing "one agenda or another"
and so is currently attending the working group meetings as
observers. Despite press reports to the contrary, the group
was deliberately not called a "Friends of Turkey" group
because that would ultimately lead to a "Not-Friends of
Turkey" group he said. Responding to a question on press
reporting of a Cyprus working group, he said that none
existed. Separately, Magnus Scholdtz, MFA European
Correspondent, told Poloff that Sweden's Ambassador to Cyprus
would be "carrying the water" on the issue during the
Presidency, working with both sides of the island and even
traveling soon to Turkey. The Ambassador is widely respected
on the island, as he speaks Greek and Turkish, and is married
to a Greek-Cypriot, noted Scholdtz.

--------------
OPENING NEW CHAPTERS
--------------


3. (C) Spangberg reiterated the message delivered during the
DVC that the Swedes hope to open "one, two chapters if they

were lucky." He confirmed that Chapter 27 on the Environment
would be the most likely chapter, as it only requires the
Executive Branch to change rules in order to agree with
existing EU fuel standards. Sweden thinks there is no
possibility of opening Chapter 8 on Competition Policy
because it has difficult domestic political implications
during the economic crisis. Spangberg said that Sweden had
been told that there was currently a group of Turkish lawyers
trying to figure out how they can pass/propose laws that
would make it possible to open Chapter 19 on Social Policy
and Employment. The goal is to find a way to make the
minimum changes required to open the acquis chapter while not
opening Pandora's box to either Parliament (who will have to
pass some laws, but the lawyers are hoping it will be a very
narrow set) or the interest groups (which a full reform
effort would entail). Chapter 26 on Education would require
progress on the Cyprus issue, he noted. The Swedes think
that if Turkey dropped its objection to Cyprus being admitted
to the OECD, the other two issues with opening the education
chapter will fall into place. Sweden thinks there is no
chance to open Chapter 15 on Energy because of the competing
exploratory drilling expeditions from both Turkey and Cyprus.
Spangberg confirmed that as of Tuesday, July 21, Cyprus and
Greece had placed the issue of Turkish exploration in the
Aegean Sea on the "Any Other Business" agenda for the July
27-28 GAERC.
--------------
PROGRESS REPORT
--------------


4. (C) Spangberg talked about Sweden's plans for Turkey's
Annual Progress Report from the Commission. The Swedes will
ask the Commission to present Turkish progress on each
chapter to the Council. The Swedes (and the Turks) have felt
that the Enlargement Policy and Communication (EPC)
Directorate has only been issuing releases and talking about
Croatia's progress (though not anymore, he noted). No public
announcements have been made about Turkey's progress on
chapters, including some that were opened years ago, because
there were no intermediate bench marks to publicize. Sweden
wanted the Commission to publicize to the Council how much
progress Turkey has made. Spangberg said the annual Progress
Report for Turkey was currently scheduled to be presented to
the Council in mid-October, but the Swedes had seen the
deadline pushed back before.
--------------
Parliamentary Issues
--------------


5. (C) Sweden is very upset that the Turkish Parliament was
out of session until October 1, Spangberg said. He said that
there were a few significant things currently going on in
Turkey that if they bore fruit would be very helpful in
securing a favorable annual review. Sweden was told that a
reform working group had been set-up composed of four
ministers, including the Minister of Interior and the
Minister of Justice, who are trying to create proposals for
judicial reform. Spangberg said it would be very helpful if
the proposals were made public before the review and were
seen to have political support from both Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Parliament. The Swedes had also been told
that the MFA had been working with the lawyers to figure out
how some chapters could be opened without involving
Parliament.
SILVERMAN