US embassy cable - 05VIENNA3397

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UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION -- FOLLOW-UP

Identifier: 05VIENNA3397
Wikileaks: View 05VIENNA3397 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Vienna
Created: 2005-10-19 08:37:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Tags: ETRD PREL SCUL AU UNESCO
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.


UNCLAS VIENNA 003397 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR IO/UNESCO AND EUR/AGS - VIKMANIS-KELLER 
 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/USFCS - THOMAS MOORE AND ITA/MAC - KELLY 
 
PARSONS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: ETRD, PREL, SCUL, AU, UNESCO 
SUBJECT: UNESCO CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVENTION -- FOLLOW-UP 
 
DEMARCHE TO AUSTRIA 
 
REF: A. (A) VIENNA 3375 
 
     B. (B) STATE 189518 
 
     C. (C) VIENNA 3322 
 
     D. (D) STATE 184292 
 
     E. (E) VIENNA 3246 
 
     F. (F) STATE 170909 
 
1.  Following up on delivery of Secretary Gutierrez's letter 
 
on Friday, October 14 (ref a), EconPolCouns and Senior 
 
Commercial Officer met on October 18 with Gabriela 
 
Habermayer, head of the Multilateral Trade Affairs Division 
 
of the Austrian Ministry for Economics and Labor. 
 
2.  Habermayer said Austria supported the current draft of 
 
the UNESCO Cultural Diversity Convention.  She noted that the 
 
convention had responded to discussions in Europe of the need 
 
to define Europe's cultural identity.  After the defeat of 
 
the EU constitutional referendum in France earlier this year, 
 
Europeans had given even more support to the concepts in the 
 
Cultural Diversity Convention. 
 
3.  On the trade aspects of the convention, Austria has 
 
argued that international agreements should be mutually 
 
supportive, Habermayer said.  There was no change in the EU 
 
position on the General Agreement on Trade in Services, she 
 
noted.  Austria suppoorted the principle of not including 
 
cultural aspects in GATS discussions, she added. 
 
van Voorst 

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