VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTH #0167/01 0361118
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051118Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1153
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS ATHENS 000167 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR EUR (BRYZA) AND EUR/SE 
USAID ALSO FOR E&E DAA THOMAS MEFFORD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINV KIPR GR
SUBJECT: ECCC: AMBASSADOR LEADS CONSTRUCTIVE DISCUSSION 
WITH MFA 
 
REF: (A) ATHENS 141 
 
¶1.  (U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
treat appropriately. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary. The Ambassador held a positive discussion 
on the ECCC process with MFA Secretary General for 
International Economic Affairs Skylakakis on January 30.  The 
two agreed provisionally to hold the next ECCC meeting in 
Washington on June 19.  They also agreed that the two sides 
should take advantage of the intervening period to achieve a 
series of benchmarks in the ECCC priority areas of assistance 
cooperation, commercial cooperation, and IPR/money laundering 
issues.  Paragraph 5 outlines the specific benchmarks 
proposed by the Ambassador.  Skylakakis and the Ambassador 
agreed to meet again in early March to assess progress.   End 
Summary 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
ECCC: Time for an Assessment 
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¶3.  (SBU)  The Ambassador started the meeting by expressing 
his personal support, and that of the USG overall, for the 
ECCC process.  He believed his arrival in Athens represented 
a good opportunity for a review of ECCC components.  He noted 
that Washington would like to hold the next ECCC on June 19, 
and said the intervening period should not be wasted.  He 
recommended the two sides define a series of benchmarks we 
wanted achieved by June, and the promised to remain 
personally engaged.  To this end, he proposed meeting 
Skylakakis again in March. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Skylakakis ECCC Status Report 
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¶4.  (SBU) Skylakakis enthusiastically accepted the June 19 
date and outlined the status of ECCC initiatives within the 
GoG. 
 
¶A.  Public Procurement.  There is a new Presidential decree 
that has radically changed the public procurement process. 
In the past, all bidding firms had to submit extensive 
pre-qualification documents for public tenders.  Now, only 
winning companies have to submit qualification documents.  If 
U.S. firms, for example, won one out of every eight tenders 
in which they bid, this reduced the paperwork load by 7/8. 
(Note: Skylakakis is correct as far as he goes: the 
Presidential decree means that paperwork problems affect bids 
from far fewer U.S. companies.  However, it does not fix the 
paperwork problems faced by U.S. firms which have won Greek 
public sector tenders.  End Note) 
 
¶B. Hospital Debt.  Skylakakis reminded the group that, at the 
2007 ECCC, he had promised new legislation that would begin 
to address this problem.  The legislation had passed.  (Note: 
In fact, this legislation does not address the debt problem 
per se.  Rather, it addresses public health-industry 
procurement issues.  End Note)  He said he understood 
Minister of Finance Alogoskoufis had outlined to the 
Ambassador the status of the inter-agency working group 
seized with this issue (ref A).  He claimed that the ECCC had 
provided the MFA useful leverage, which it had used to goose 
other Ministries on the issue. 
 
¶C.  AmCham ECCC Event.  Skylakakis said he had been 
discussing with the Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce 
(AmCham) a possible event on the margins of the Washington 
ECCC meeting. 
 
¶D. IPR.  Skylakakis admitted much more needed to be done 
here, but stressed there was forward progress.  The Special 
Tax Services (YPEE) had sent a fourth tranche of letters to 
firms asking for the status of their compliance with software 
licensing requirements.  This tranche was the most extensive 
yet, and went to firms with between 20 and 25 employees.  The 
Hellenic Copyright Office (OPI) was, he reminded the group, 
intensely engaged on awareness campaigns aimed at the Greek 
public and government.  He noted that MFA Secretary General 
Agathocles had stressed the importance of IPR enforcement to 
a group of 400 judges in Chania Crete, who were also 
addressed by DCM Countryman.  Skylakakis had told the group 
that "there must be convictions" for Greek laws to fulfill 
their objective of reducing piracy. 
 
¶E. Money Laundering/Terror Finance.  YPEE's investigation of 
the Proto Thema co-owner and "journalist" Anastassiades 
 
would, Skylakakis maintained, change attitudes in Greece. 
This is a big case that Skyalakakis said would prove that 
even those with political connections could not get away with 
money laundering.  New legislation implementing the EU's 
Third Directive was also on the verge of being passed, a 
major milestone. 
 
¶F. Assistance.  Skylakakis highlighted assistance as a 
particularly positive area of the ECCC.  There were already 
three, on-going projects where USAID and Hellenic Aid are 
collaborating: the Transnational Action against Child 
Trafficking (TACT) project in Albania, the Colombo Market 
restoration project in Sri Lanka, and a project in Jordan 
(NFI).  The two sides are now intensely discussing possible 
collaboration on renewable energy in the Balkans, an Adriatic 
tourism project and a property rights project, which would 
also focus on the Balkans. 
 
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The Ambassador Reacts: Great, but Let's Keep Working 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador thanked Skylakakis for the detailed 
update, which he said highlighted the usefulness of the ECCC 
process.  It was essential at this stage to keep up and even 
enhance the momentum before the June meeting.  He noted, for 
instance that the Embassy had received new information from 
the MPAA indicating that the Greek Government had not 
convicted anyone in 2007 of DVD piracy.  It would be useful 
if the GoG could react to this, and other data the Embassy 
has presented. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  To achieve the desired progress, the Ambassador 
reiterated the importance of having a series of working-level 
meetings aimed at achieving next steps.  (Note: Economic and 
Commercial Counselors will be having a working lunch with GoG 
ECCC contacts in the next week.  End Note)  The Ambassador 
pointed out a number of specific benchmarks he said we would 
like to see achieved before the June 19 meeting: 
 
-- MOU signings on Adriatic Tourism and Renewable Energy 
Cooperation; 
-- Agreement to pursue a cooperative renewable energy project; 
-- Submission by the GoG of detailed IPR enforcement 
statistics; 
-- Submission by the GoG of a "roadmap" of how it will 
resolve the hospital debt situation; 
-- Examination by the GoG of alternative documents that can 
be submitted by U.S. firms that satisfy GoG bid documentation 
requirements. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Skylakakis agreed to take under consideration the 
benchmarks outlined by the Ambassador, and noted he would be 
holding an interagency meeting in February to get a status 
report.  He proposed meeting with the Ambassador again the 
first week of March to assess progress. 
SPECKHARD