US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE1565

UNCLAS PRAGUE 001565 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/ERA, EB 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/MAC/EUR MIKE ROGERS 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR LISA ERRION 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ETRD, PREL, EZ, ECIP, WTRO 
SUBJECT: VISITING EUR/ERA DIRECTOR DISCUSSES CZECH EU 
COORDINATION, TRADE AND WSIS WITH MFA EU AFFAIRS SECTION 
 
Ref: Prague 1526 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  Visiting EUR/ERA Director Peter Chase met with 
the MFA European Union Section and inquired about internal 
GOCR coordination on EU internal and external issues, and 
raised the WSIS internet governance and the WTO agriculture 
proposal issues.  On WTO, the MFA reiterated what the 
Ministry of Industry and Trade told DCM October 25, that the 
GOCR supported giving EU Trade Commissioner Mendelson the 
necessary negotiation room, but was not overly active in 
lobbying other countries on the issue.  END SUMMARY 
 
2.  EUR/ERA Director Peter Chase met separately with two 
Departments under the European Union Section of the MFA: 
Department of Internal Market & Related Policies and the 
Department of Trade Policy and Agriculture.  In both 
meetings, Chase said it was in the interest of the U.S. to 
have a strong Europe, and expressed the importance of the 
USG working with individual EU member states on EU issues, 
and not just in Brussels.  He pointed to the June 2005 US-EU 
Summit and the resulting transatlantic economic dialogue, 
stressing that our bilateral US-EU economic agenda was 
intentionally meant to reinforce and complement the internal 
EU reform agenda (the Lisbon Agenda). 
 
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MFA AS GOCR EU SECRETARIAT 
-------------------------- 
 
3.  Frantisek Trojacek, MFA Deputy Director of the 
Department of Internal Market and Related Policies, 
explained that his office was created in preparation for the 
Czech Republic's May 2004 EU accession to coordinate GOCR 
policy on internal market, justice and home affairs, and all 
sectoral policy issues except agriculture and finance.  He 
noted that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for EU Matters 
Vladimir Muller receives the COREPER I & II agendas and 
convenes an interagency EU committee meeting each Tuesday. 
Trojacek speculated that one day, his office would end up in 
the Prime Minister's office given the increasing need for 
political leadership to mediate often conflicting position 
among government ministries on specific EU internal agenda 
issues. 
 
4.  Chase used Trojacek's involvement in internal market and 
competitiveness issues to raise the EC internet governance 
proposal at the November 16 - 18 World Summit on Information 
Society (WSIS), pointing out that the EU's proposal to 
impose an intergovernmental forum on the internet could have 
significant negative consequences, both on internet 
governance and on the Czech Republic's broader interest on 
democracy and free access to information.  While WSIS is an 
EU external policy, it has EU competitiveness implications 
and Chase urged Trojacek's office to engage on the issue. 
Trojacek said the GOCR understood the issue to be still in 
the COREPER "general discussion" stage and member states had 
not reached the point of specific recommendations. 
 
5.  Chase asked for Trojacek's expectations from the 
informal EU Council meeting in Hampton Court October 27. 
Trojacek said the meeting was now going to be limited to one 
afternoon, and doubted how much 25 prime ministers could 
accomplish in such a short time.  He said with obvious 
annoyance the agenda had changed three times in the last two 
weeks and that did not bode well for a successful meeting. 
 
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CZECHS WILL HOLD THE PROGRESSIVE LINE ON AGRICULTURE 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
6.  On the U.S. WTO agriculture proposal, Director Chase 
stressed to Deputy Director of the Department of Trade 
Policy and Agriculture Kuchta the importance of member 
states giving EU Trade Commissioner Mendelson the room to 
put forth a proposal.  Using a poker analogy, he said all 
eyes were on the EU to see if it would ante up or fold. 
Kuchta echoed what our Ministry of Trade contacts have said 
(reftel): the Czech Republic has no problem with agriculture 
liberalization in general and "will hold the line" on 
pushing for negotiating room.  When pressed about to what 
extend the GOCR was talking to other member states on the 
issue, particularly in the central European region, Kuchta 
said that while the GOCR had made its position clear, it not 
been overly active with other countries. 
 
7.  This cable has been cleared by EUR/ERA Director Peter 
Chase.  Other meetings in Prague are reported septel. 
 
CABANISS