US embassy cable - 05PARIS4307

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS 004307 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB/ESC JIM EIGHMIE AND ANDREW DOWDY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/17/2015 
TAGS: IR, EPET, ETTC, PARM, PREL 
SUBJECT: FRENCH REACTION TO EU ENERGY DIALOGUE WITH IRAN 
 
REF: A. (A) SECSTATE 105983 
 
     B. (B) 04 PARIS 8019 (PARAS 6 AND 7) 
 
Classified By: ECON SECTION CHIEF KEN MERTEN, REASONS 1.4 (B AND D) 
 
1. (C) EconOff delivered reftel demarch to Jean-Claude Nolla, 
Deputy Director for Energy and Transport (DAS-equivalent) in 
the MFA Economic Directorate. Nolla was unaware of the recent 
pronouncements by Francois Lamoureaux, the European 
Commission's DG for Energy.  Nolla promised to look into it, 
but as far as he knew, Lamoureaux did not have prior approval 
from member states -- at least, not from the GOF -- before he 
made these statements. 
 
2.  (SBU)  EconOff also mentioned our concerns during a 
meeting on June 15 with Total executives, Carolina Malaussena 
and Yves LeBail, both of whom work under Senior Vice 
President for International Relations Jacques de Boisseson, 
who was in Vienna for the recent OPEC meetings.  Malaussena 
and LeBail also reacted as though they were unaware of 
Lamoureaux's declaration.  LeBail said that the European 
Commission cannot take such actions without explicit 
agreement from member states.  However, he suspected that 
Lamoureaux's statements were yet another example of 
Commission officials in Brussels taking action beyond their 
mandate, for which French voters signalled their disapproval 
on May 29. 
 
3.  (SBU) Malaussena said that this is a delicate time in 
Iran with elections soon and the nuclear freeze extended only 
until August.  Total has signed no new agreements with 
Iranian officials in recent months, apart from a framework 
agreement for Pars LNG, signed in December 2004, that only 
commits them to feasibility studies and not/not to any actual 
infrastructure investments. 
WOLFF