VZCZCXRO7776
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHHM RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHRO #0342/01 0780921
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180921Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0002
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000342 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/PGI FOR D. TESSLER 
EUR/WE FOR C. JESTER AND K. OPSTRUP 
STATE PASS TO CEQ FOR G. BANKS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG KGHG EUN IT
SUBJECT: ITALY/EU: EUROPEAN COUNCIL TERMS BALI "IMPORTANT 
BREAKTHROUGH;" ITALY SEES "HARD SLOGGING" STILL AHEAD 
 
REFS: A) 3/11/08 PRESTON-TESSLER EMAIL, B) STATE 24257 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. Italian MFA Minister Andrea Perugini 
correctly predicted to SCICouns on March 11 that the March 
13-14 European Council conclusions would not mention the 
25-40% greenhouse gas(GHG) reduction below 1990 levels by 
2020 target, and would refer to the "important 
breakthrough" made at the December Bali Climate Conference. 
Perugini said Italy was a bit skeptical about terming Bali 
an "important breakthrough," since they see "a lot of hard 
slogging" still ahead.  SCICouns noted that the 25-40% by 
2020 goal would mean the U.S. would have to cut emissions 
in half in a decade, an impossible target for the U.S. and 
other countries, and said that if the European Union (EU) 
were to insist on such an unrealistic mid-term goal, the 
U.S. would then likely insist that each EU member comply 
with it individually.  She also argued that now is the time 
to focus on joint U.S.-European action to get India and 
China to undertake real commitments.  Perugini agreed that 
India and China were making political hay from U.S.-EU 
differences.  Although he defended the need for the "EU 
(GHG emissions) bubble," he expressed some reservations 
about the EU process for deciding on and allocating among 
EU members GHG emissions reduction targets.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) As reported in ref a), SCICouns delivered ref b) 
points on March 11 to Italian MFA Environment and 
Sustainable Development Director Counselor Giovanna 
Piccarreta; Assistant to Prime Minister Prodi for Economic 
Affairs Ludovica Rizzotti; and to Minister Andrea Perugini 
of the MFA's Directorate General for European Integration. 
Min. Perugini said that the last version of the European 
Council "draft circular," aside from the one which was 
placed on the Council table just before the arrival of the 
Council members on March 13, did not mention the 25-40% 
greenhouse gas(GHG) reduction below 1990 levels by 2020 
target.  He added that the text did mention the "important 
breakthrough" made at the Bali Climate Conference in 
December 2007.  (NOTE: The March 13-14 Council conclusions 
did in fact refer to the "important breakthrough" made at 
Bali.  END NOTE) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Perugini said Italy was a bit skeptical about 
terming Bali an "important breakthrough," since that seemed 
to indicate "downhill sledding from here on out" and they 
see "a lot of hard slogging" still ahead.  SCICouns made 
the case that Bali was an important breakthrough, citing 
the material from the demarche points and from the March 10 
conference call providing context for ref b).  The points 
that seemed to hit home with Perugini the most were the 
U.S. national-level mandatory programs, including the 
Energy Independence and Security Act; the fact that the USG 
is seeking agreement on a way to reflect nationally- 
determined mid-term GHG reduction goal(s) for all Major 
Economies in an internationally binding form; and the fact 
that the USG is seeking agreement on a shared long-term GHG 
reduction goal for all Major Economies. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Perugini said that the European Union's "20/20 by 
2020" targets for GHG reduction and increased use of 
renewable energy were "thoroughly political," "top-down," 
and had "no scientific basis," but he argued that 
"sometimes you can get results by being ambitious."  In 
fact, he said, if Bali and other U.S. actions are in fact a 
breakthrough, it could be argued that that is a result of 
others having set an ambitious goal.  SCICouns responded 
that the USG doesn't have the option of agreeing to an 
ambitious/unrealistic international commitment and then 
ignoring it; it will be sued in U.S. courts if it doesn't 
do what it pledges to do.  The USG must thus ensure that it 
can actually do what it agrees to do.  Perugini noted that 
our systems each have their own peculiarities; the 
challenge is to find an international arrangement that can 
work for us all. 
 
¶5. (SBU) SCICouns made the case to all three interlocutors 
that it is crucial for the U.S. and EU to work together now 
to get India and China to undertake real commitments.  All 
agreed, although Perugini noted that that is what the EU 
had argued to the U.S. in the past (presumably, to persuade 
the USG to comply with the Kyoto Protocol).  He agreed that 
India and China were making political hay from U.S.-EU 
differences, and took on board the argument that reflecting 
nationally-determined goals in an internationally-binding 
form might be the way to get key emerging economies to 
 
ROME 00000342  002 OF 002 
 
 
commit to concrete mid-term actions. 
 
¶6. (SBU) SCICouns also made the point, per the March 10 
conference call, that the 25-40%-GHG-reduction-by-2020 goal 
would mean the U.S. would have to cut emissions in half in 
a decade, and that that would be impossible for the U.S. 
(as well as for Canada, Japan, Australia, and others).  She 
noted, per ref b) and the conference call, that there are 
different trajectories for reaching the same long-term 
global GHG-emissions-reduction goal, and that if the EU 
were to insist on such an unrealistic mid-term goal as 25- 
40% by 2020, the U.S. would then likely insist that each EU 
member comply with it individually.  After making a defense 
of the EU's need for the "EU bubble," due to the very 
different levels of development within the EU, Perugini 
said that Italy has its own complaints with the EU 
allocation of targets.  He noted that countries' potential 
for (and past performance in) taking additional measures to 
improve energy efficiency and adopt renewable energy had 
not been adequately reflected in the allocation of the 
20/20 targets. 
 
SPOGLI