VZCZCXRO4367
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBS #3046 2751138
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021138Z OCT 07 ZDK
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS
RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU
RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
RUEHCH/AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KYIV
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA
RUEHSI/AMEMBASSY TBILISI

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 003046 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PARM PBTS PHSA SENC ECON EWWT BU
AJ, GG, MD, GR, UP, TU, RO, RS, EUN 
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: EU MOVING AHEAD ON PLAN FOR 
BLACK SEA MINISTERIAL 
 
REF: SECSTATE 132171 
 
¶1. (SBU) Per reftel instructions, USEU delivered the Black 
Sea Strategy demarche to Janos Herman, Principal Advisor for 
Regional Cooperation, DG RELEX on September 27.  Herman 
agreed that the U.S. regional strategy complemented the EU's 
new "Black Sea Synergy" initiative approved by EU Foreign 
Ministers in May 2007.  As evidence of the EU's burgeoning 
interest in the region, Herman noted that the European 
Commission attained observer status at the Organization of 
the Black Sea Economic Coordination (BSEC) in June 2007.  The 
Commission has also signaled to BSEC its support for the 
candidacies of four more EU member states -- the UK, 
Lithuania, Hungary, and Cyprus.  (Note: There are currently 
seven EU member states BSEC: the Czech Republic, Germany, 
France, Italy, Austria, Poland and Slovakia.) 
 
¶2. (SBU) Moreover, Herman confirmed that the Commission is 
preparing for a high-level political event in the region in 
early 2008 as a platform to "provide "political orientation 
and visibility to" the Black Sea Synergy.  Ukraine, as the 
incoming Chair of BSEC, has agreed to host an EU-BSEC 
ministerial meeting as a side event of a BSEC conference in 
January.  The Commission hopes that the participants will 
issue a joint ministerial statement at the conclusion of the 
event.  With this in mind, DG RELEX is now preparing a draft 
text that "balances" competing EU institutional and member 
states' interests in various aspects of the Synergy.  Herman 
acknowledged that it may prove even more difficult to reach 
agreement with Turkey and Russia on such any such joint 
statement.  Although the EU intends the ministerial to be a 
bilateral event, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the EU told 
Poloff that the United States should consider participation 
as well. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Senior Commission officials have also signaled 
interest in accelerating regional cooperation in the 
environmental and energy areas.  During a conference of 
ministers from all the countries covered by the European 
Neighborhood Policy (ENP) that took place in Brussels on 
September 3, Commissioner for External Relations Benita 
Ferrero-Waldner announced that the Commission would launch a 
feasibility study to examine where the existing legal 
arrangements in the EU and its neighbors' energy sectors fall 
short, and how to strengthen them.  The study would look into 
whether a new "neighborhood energy agreement" or legal 
framework would be the best solution for making energy 
markets work more efficiently for consumers, producers, and 
transit countries.  Commission President Barroso similarly 
noted the need to protect the environment, tackle climate 
change, and reinforce energy security in the EU-ENP area. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Other Commission contacts were less enthusiastic 
about the EU's own Black Sea Synergy initiative.  They noted 
that the initiative has the potential to constrain EU policy 
rather than expand it, by keeping the EU bound by the 
document. They also questioned whether the Synergy's 
placement of Russia on equal political footing in discussions 
of the region is actually in the EU's interest. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT: We would expect the European Commission to 
look askance at a proposal to transform their planned 
bilateral ministerial event with BSEC member states into a 
trilateral meeting with the United States.  At the same time, 
USEU would be interested in the view from Embassies Kyiv, 
Bucharest, and Sofia on such an idea. 
GRAY 
.