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R 021109Z MAY 07 ZDK
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001459 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/ERA 
DEPT FOR EUR/PGI 
 
E.O 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID TBIO SOCI
SUBJECT: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LANGE AND EU OFFICIALS 
MEET ON AVIAN AND PANDEMIC INFLUENZA 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.  In his first official visit to Brussels 
since taking on his position in 2006, Ambassador John 
Lange, Special Representative on Avian and Pandemic 
Influenza, met with the European Commission on April 26th as 
part of the run-up to the next meeting of the International 
Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza (IPAPI) to be 
held in Delhi in December. In meetings with representatives 
of European Commission Directorates for External Relations, 
Health, Development, Research and EuropeAid, Lange 
discussed international efforts to overcome IndonesiaQs 
refusal to share virus samples with international health 
authorities and exchanged information on progress and plans 
for assistance to developing countries battling the spread 
of Avian Influenza (AI).  The meetings were positive and 
productive, boding well for the Delhi IPAPI meeting later 
this year. End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Ambassador Lange stressed a few key themes during a 
full day of meetings with European Commission officials and 
US Mission staff during his visit.  First, he emphasized 
the importance of continued planning and preparation for a 
pandemic despite the decrease in front page news coverage. 
He noted repeatedly that we can never be completely ready 
for a pandemic.  Referring to recent remarks in the press 
by a senior official of the European Center for Disease 
Prevention and Control that the EU would be ready for a 
pandemic in about two years, Lange said that such a 
statement was politically dangerous since we will never be 
able to fully anticipate the secondary effects of a 
pandemic nor are we ever likely to be completely ready for 
the anticipated death toll.  Lange referenced the speech 
earlier in the week by Margaret Chan, Director of the World 
Health Organization, in which she said that expectations of 
three years ago -- that the H5N1 virus would soon either 
cause a pandemic or attenuate and cease to be a threat -- 
had not been fulfilled, shaking confidence in our ability 
to predict if and when this virus may become lethal.  He 
also said that in the event the next pandemic fails to 
materialize in the near term, that the funding and 
expertise being directed to the virus today will not be 
wasted if it builds capacity in the developing world and 
emergency preparedness in all countries, including Europe 
and the US.  Commission officials welcomed Ambassador 
LangeQs remarks. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) At every meeting throughout the day, Ambassador 
Lange reported on recent efforts by WHO to overcome 
IndonesiaQs refusal to share samples of the virus.  The 
Commission appeared not to be up-to-date on the situation, 
believing that Indonesia had already recommenced providing 
samples.   However, health Commissioner KyprianouQs Deputy 
Head of Cabinet, Philippe Brunet, aware of the situation, 
expressed concern about a possible domino effect should 
other countries follow IndonesiaQs example. Lange noted 
that ThailandQs interventions at the April 25 WHO meeting 
in Geneva indicated that it may have retreated from such a 
move and rejoined the international community in its 
support for unconditional sharing of samples. 
 
¶4.   (U) Lange also reported that the US, as part of its 
intervention during the Geneva meeting, had offered to 
consider a contribution to a stockpile of pre-pandemic 
vaccine and asked whether the EU would consider joining 
such an effort.  Both Jim Moran, Director Asia at the 
Directorate for External Relations (RELEX), and Alain 
Vandersmissen, RELEXQs AI External Response Coordinator, 
quickly replied that the Commission did not favor this 
approach Q though it is unknown whether this position is 
shared by other Directorates.  Moran immediately turned the 
discussion to Latin America, cutting off any further 
exchange on the subject.  In response, Lange queried why AI 
is still being run out of the Asia office at RELEX.  Moran 
and Vandersmissen explained that the Commission does not 
believe in setting up special offices in response to 
individual issues nor is there an equivalent office to that 
of the State DepartmentQs Under Secretary for Democracy and 
Global Affairs.  Because AI started in Asia, the Asia 
office initiated EU coverage of the issue and has since 
become the locus for AI and the coordinator of the 
interservice external response efforts.  However, he added 
that the problem needs to be approached from a broader 
perspective, namely as part of a bigger picture which the 
Commission is calling HPED, Highly Pathogenic Agents and 
Emerging and Reemerging Diseases.  Under this larger 
umbrella RELEX has succeeded in securing longer term 
 
BRUSSELS 00001459  002 OF 002 
 
 
support, what he called Qan eight-year line,Q for its work 
on AI. 
 
¶5.   (SBU) Concerning the Delhi IPAPI meeting, Moran of DG 
RELEX, stated that the question of whether to conduct 
another pledging exercise is still open.  Vandersmissen 
remarked that some of the monies already donated had yet to 
be spent, a source of frustration for the Commission. 
Lange said that Congress has already approved an additional 
$161 million for USAID for AI assistance but this is part 
of a complicated broader supplemental appropriation and 
final approval for such funds will take time.  Regarding 
the Delhi meeting and IPAPI, RELEX and Lange agreed to 
propose the same approach that defused US-EU tensions prior 
to the Vienna Senior Officials meeting last year by having 
the IPAPI logo displayed in the upper left corner of the 
letterhead, above the title of the meeting, on both the 
invitation and the agenda. 
 
¶6.  (U) At a large interservice meeting with members of the 
CommissionQs AI Task Force, officials from the EuropeAid 
Cooperation Office reported that efforts by the EU and 
World Bank to disburse funds and advance third country 
national AI and pandemic planning efforts, though slow at 
first, are now well underway.  Officials from other 
Directorates reported on plans for humanitarian relief in 
the event of a pandemic; technical trade assistance and 
training for countries that export food to the EU; and 
research on animal vaccines.  As compared with a similar 
meeting last year with LangeQs predecessor, Ambassador 
Nancy Powell, these working-level officials were more 
knowledgeable about their respective areas of competence 
and demonstrated a better grasp of the both the health and 
economic threats posed by a pandemic. 
 
¶8.  (U) During the meeting with Brunet, critical aspects of 
pandemic planning were discussed including business 
continuity.  Brunet said that the Commission began by 
making plans for continuity of its own and Member States 
government institutions and is now addressing the need to 
maintain important services for society at large.  He gave 
the example of nuclear power plants which by law require a 
minimum level of staffing to remain operational.  The 
closing of such facilities due to employee absences in a 
severe pandemic could cause disruption to power supplies. 
Ambassador Lange replied that such continuity of service 
concerns are driving the USG to take an all-hazards 
approach.  Lange also described the Centers for Disease 
Control and PreventionQs (CDC) recent development of 
community mitigation guidance which includes a pandemic 
severity index which would be used to match the level of 
response to a pandemic by its severity.  Brunet was 
intrigued by this concept and said that representatives 
from DG SANCO will contact the CDC to learn more and 
determine whether using this approach would benefit the EU. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Mission Comment.  While the meetings showed many 
areas where the US and the EU share similar views, the two 
continue to act more in parallel than in harmony.  Given 
the range of potential areas for coordinated action, the US 
should consider inviting the EU to identify specific 
activities which would benefit from joint efforts, possibly 
starting with coordinated activity in third countries of 
greatest concern such as Indonesia, Egypt and Nigeria.  End 
Comment. 
 
¶10. (U) This cable has been cleared by Ambassador Lange. 
 
McKinley