US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS4949

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 004949 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS EPA (STEPHEN JOHNSON, AUER, HAZEN) 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, EB/ESC/IEC, EUR/ERA, E, G 
WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP, CEQ 
COMMERCE FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT 
PARIS FOR NSF (SUSKIN) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/15/2014 
TAGS: PREL, SENV, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH ENVIRONMENT COMMISSIONER 
WALLSTROM 
 
 
1. (C) Summary.  Incoming European Commission Vice Present 
(and Former Environment Commissioner) Margot Wallstrom told 
Ambassador Schnabel November 15 that the main focus of her 
new vice presidential position in charge of the EU's 
intra-Europe and global communications strategy will be 
improving Commission ties to the Council, European 
Parliament, and national parliaments.  She noted with 
interest the President's recent statements on reaching out to 
Europe, and suggested that the USG could have the most impact 
by taking steps to project a positive environmental agenda, 
create forward movement in the Middle East peace process, and 
tackle the number of trade disputes that color the otherwise 
extremely positive overall economic relationship.  (Notably, 
she did not suggest a need for European actions.)  The two 
also discussed an agreed outcome on methyl bromide in the 
upcoming Prague meetings, and REACH.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) Ambassador met November 15 with Commissioner Margot 
Wallstrom amid packing boxes, as she prepared to move from 
her current position as Commissioner for Environment to her 
future job as Commission Vice President in Charge of 
Communications and Institutional Issues. 
 
On Her New Role 
--------------- 
 
3. (C) Wallstrom noted that the details of her new portfolio 
still need to be fully developed.  Her main responsibilities 
will concentrate on improving communications and 
institutional relations with the European Parliament, the 
Council, and national parliaments.  She will also lead 
Commission efforts to reach out to civil society throughout 
Europe, and to put a human face on EU activities for average 
European citizens.  Wallstrom said this summer's European 
Parliament elections had been a wake-up call for the 
Commission that they needed to do more to counter growing 
European hostility toward politics and politicians on the 
continent, and especially toward the overall European project. 
 
4. (C) The constitutional treaty will be one of her first 
priority tasks.  Wallstrom said it would "inappropriate" for 
the Commission to play a major role in pressing for 
ratification in the 25 Member States, especially not in 
countries where referenda will be held.  Instead, she 
suggested that national governments must take the lead, since 
they know local circumstances best.  For instance, she said 
in her native Sweden, "federalism is an f-word." For Germans, 
in contrast, federalism is the constitutional framework. 
The Commission's role, she said, will be to prepare 
information on the constitution, get it out in all languages, 
and perhaps also to provide informed speakers who can 
contribute to national discussions of the treaty.   Wallstrom 
expected that the referendum in the UK will prove the most 
difficult, but suggested that success was hardly assured in 
France or other countries as well. 
 
US-EU Relations 
--------------- 
 
5. (C) Wallstrom welcomed the Ambassador's presentation on 
President Bush's commitment to reach out to Europe.  She 
urged in particular that the President signal his commitment 
to seek multilateral solutions to global problems.  Europe 
does not expect major policy reversals in areas like the 
environment, she said.  Instead, it will be important to look 
for areas where we can cooperate, such as research and 
development, or some of the international conventions under 
consideration.  As a follow-on to Johannesburg, Europe would 
also welcome more active US involvement in sustainable 
development efforts within the OECD, she suggested. 
 
6. (C) Wallstrom suggested three major areas where US 
engagement can help change prevailing attitudes in Europe: 
 
-- Projecting a positive environmental agenda by indicating 
US commitment to progress on sustainable development (even if 
Washington remains reluctant to join Kyoto); 
-- Creating forward movement in the Middle East peace 
process; and 
-- Tackling the number of trade disputes that color the 
extremely positive overall economic relationship across the 
Atlantic. 
 
On the New Commission 
--------------------- 
 
7. (C) Wallstrom said she did not expect major policy changes 
to come from the new Barroso Commission.  The Commission is 
like an oil tanker, she suggested: difficult to change 
direction, and slow to maneuver.  Still, there was no doubt 
that the Barroso Commission was slightly more "liberal" (in 
the European sense) in its economic outlook.  But she 
emphasized that it must be clear that the Commission 
represents all of Europe, and cannot be a reflection of only 
one major political stream of thought in Europe. 
 
8. (C) One major policy challenge for the next Commission 
will be integrating the EU's new role in security and foreign 
policy, especially by preparing the way for the shift toward 
a new Foreign Minister for Europe and an integrated "external 
action service."  The second key priority will remain the 
Lisbon agenda of competitiveness and growth. 
 
Environment, Methyl Bromide, REACH 
---------------------------------- 
 
9. (C) Wallstrom repeatedly hit on the theme that the US and 
EU need to find ways to work together cooperatively on all, 
and especially environmental, issues.  She wants a "fresh 
start", she said, and believes that she sees in Europe a "new 
climate of cooperation" that will allow a greater readiness 
to listen to what the US has to say.  In that context, she 
offered help in our reaching a compromise solution on a 
methyl bromide critical use exemption (CUE) at the Montreal 
Protocol meeting in Prague next week.  She said that we 
should be able to find a reasonable solution to US needs and 
EU desire to reduce CUEs.  She will encourage Environment 
Director General Catherine Day to telephone US counterparts 
ahead of Prague in order to try to develop a compromise.  (We 
recommended that Day phone James Connaugton in the Council on 
Environmental Quality.)  Wallstrom also is ready to support 
the idea of developing a High Level Environmental Dialog. 
She commented that the EU's new chemicals regime, REACH, is 
likely to go into force as planned in 2007 but with a 
flexible approach to chemicals testing and enforcement. 
Wallstrom's comments were positive and cooperative, but, as 
she transitions to her new job as vice president, she said 
that she preferred to leave detailed discussion of REACH and 
other issues to her successor as Environment Commissioners. 
 
SCHNABEL