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C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 000020

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STATE FOR ISN/CB, VCI/CCA, L/NPV, IO/MPR,
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/13/2020
TAGS: PARM PREL OPCW CWC
SUBJECT: CWC: TEMPLATE: WASHINGTON ADDRESSEES ONLY

REF: A. 09 THE HAGUE 632

B. MIKULAK-BEIK EMAIL (01/12/10)

Classified By: Janet E. Beik for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D)

This is CWC-02-10.


1. (U) This is an action request: see para 9.


2. (SBU) SUMMARY: Delreps called on Executive
Council (EC) Chairman Ambassador Jorge Lomonaco
(Mexico) on January 12 in advance of Lomonaco's
first round of informal consultations on issues
related to meeting the 2012 deadline for
destruction of chemical weapons (CW) stockpiles.
Lomonaco shared his thoughts on how to address the
issue. He plans to discuss his ideas with
Director-General (DG) Pfirter later in the week and
welcomed feedback from Delreps and colleagues.
Lomonaco plans to hold two rounds of consultations
during the remainder of his tenure -- the first on
January 21 in advance of the February EC session
(EC-59) and the second sometime in March before the
April EC session (EC-60) -- before handing over to
his successor in May. END SUMMARY.


3. (SBU) On January 12, Delreps Beik and Granger
and Embassy Legal Counselor John Kim met with EC
Chair Lomonaco and his deputy, Blanca Polo, to
discuss Lomonaco's intentions for his first round
of consultations (scheduled for January 21) on
issues related to meeting the 2012 CW destruction
deadline. Lomonaco's primary consideration is to
follow the mandate given to him by the EC during
its October session (EC-58),but this discussion
will clearly extend into the next year beyond his
chairmanship. He plans to hold a first round of
consultations and to report to the Council in
February, and to hold a second round of
consultations before EC-60 in April, the last
session he will chair. Lomonaco intends to begin
the process in as positive a direction as he can
before handing the main work to his successor (yet
to be chosen from the Western European and Others
Group, WEOG).


4. (SBU) Lomonaco shared points he had considered
to guide discussion during the January 21 meeting.
He plans to raise the points with DG Pfirter before
the meeting to get his input and to enlist the
support of Technical Secretariat (TS) for potential
requests for papers or reports on specific topics.
He welcomed U.S. feedback. Lomonaco divided the
points into two categories:

a. How and when to initiate discussions by the EC
(the mandate from EC-58 for the EC Chair's
consultations)
- timing for the discussions
- legal considerations
- long-term/strategic considerations
- political considerations
- the possibility of convening a Special Conference

b. OPCW adjustments post-2012
- reduction in Verification income
- redundancy of Inspection personnel


5. (C) Under practical considerations (the second
category),Lomonaco suggests a focus on
organizational adjustments resulting from the draw-
down and eventual completion of destruction
activities, including the redundancy of inspection
personnel and the reduction in income from
possessor states for TS verification of
destruction. Lomonaco observed that these real and
pressing considerations could provide a positive
focus for delegations' energy and discussions
rather than falling into hypothetical debate on
Qrather than falling into hypothetical debate on
non-compliance. He recalled a previous meeting in
November with U.S. Representative to the EC and
ISN/CB Executive Director Mikulak on this issue and
reiterated his personal view that it would be best
to contain and minimize a political discussion,
which would inevitably become more contentious the
longer it went on. Instead, Lomonaco prefers to
focus on practical issues first before moving to
other, more political considerations closer to the
deadline. Delrep said the U.S. had not been
thinking in terms of the budget and personnel
implications for this consultation but that a
discussion of the practical organizational impact
of the deadlines (met or not) could be productive
and provide useful background for the incoming
Director-General and his new senior management.


6. (C) Referring to the EC's mandate for the
consultations (Ref A),Lomonaco said that the other
set of issues relate to how and when to initiate
discussions by the EC on not meeting the 2012
deadline. These issues range from the timing for
such discussions to legal, strategic and political
considerations. Lomonaco also included the
possibility of a special conference, as suggested
several times by the Director-General, but he
agreed that timing and the agenda for such a
conference would be extremely sensitive and would
have to be planned carefully. He noted that there
will be a political price to pay for missing the
2012 deadline but predicted that it would be better
to deal with all affected possessor states together
rather than only focusing on the U.S. now and
letting other states "avoid the heat" but reap the
benefits of any agreed solution.


7. (SBU) Lomonaco also shared with Delreps a paper
he is drafting with thoughts on facilitating the
work of the Conference of the States Parties (CSP)
based on his experience from the Second Review
Conference and the last two CSP sessions. The
paper focuses primarily on a more representative
and transparent composition of small drafting
groups (draft paper being scanned and sent
separately to ISN/CB). Lomonaco plans to introduce
the paper informally during either EC-59 or EC-60
to stimulate discussion, without aiming for a
"noted" report or decision but to provide some
concrete suggestions for the future. He asked for
thoughts and feedback to incorporate into what he
sees as a contribution to improving the working
methods of the policy-making organs.


8. (SBU) DEL COMMENT: Lomonaco used similar
techniques in leading the process for selection of
the new Director-General, with great effect (Ref
A). He has a thoughtful plan but will listen to
feedback, allowing ventilation of views in an open
meeting but keeping the process under control.
With the transition of leadership this summer from
DG Pfirter to his successor, Ahmet Uzumcu (Turkey),
Lomonaco's approach of focusing on organizational
issues seems a productive one that could help the
OPCW transition, both on the highly toxic deadline
issue and for the working methods of the political
bodies. END COMMENT.


9. (U) ACTION REQUEST: Del requests feedback on
Lomonaco's notional points in advance of the
QLomonaco's notional points in advance of the
January 21 meeting, and any response or suggestions
to his draft paper on improving CSP procedures.


10. (U) BEIK SENDS.

LEVIN