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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHDH RUEHFL RUEHHM RUEHIK
RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHNP RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHROV
RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHTM RUEHTRO RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHRO #0736/01 1760631
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250631Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2274
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 3867
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0471

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000736 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/PGI FOR D. TESSLER 
EUR/WE FOR C. JESTER AND S. HARTMANN 
EEB/ESC FOR DANIELLE MONOSSON 
IO/EDA FOR REBECCA WEBER 
OES/EGC FOR GRIFF THOMPSON 
DOE FOR P. YOSHIDA AND J. SKEER 
EPA FOR A. PHILLIPS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG KGHG TRGY SENV KSCA IEA IT
SUBJECT: ITALY LEANING TOWARD UAE FOR IRENA HEADQUARTERS, STILL 
CONSIDERING DIRECTOR GENERAL CHOICE 
 
Refs:  a) 6/22/09 Preston-Monosson e-mail  b) State 59969 
 
ROME 00000736  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Italian Foreign Ministry officials said Italy is 
leaning toward the choice of the United Arab Emirates as the 
headquarters for the new International Renewable Energy Agency 
(IRENA), but the Italian position could still change if there are 
"important advances" in the case for Bonn or Vienna.  Italy is now 
conducting bilateral consultations on the Director General choice, 
and will decide based on the concrete proposals for IRENA that the 
different candidates make.  Italy wants very much to avoid 
duplication between IRENA and the International Energy Agency, and 
believes IRENA's focus should be on renewable energy technology 
deployment in developing countries and capacity-building.  Italian 
ratification of the IRENA Stature is likely to take 12-18 months 
from now.  The officials expressed enthusiasm about the possibility 
that the U.S. will join IRENA, and asked for an update on USG 
consultations with Congress and on the composition of the U.S. 
delegation (see para 9 action request).  End summary. 
 
ITALY LEANING TOWARD UAE HQ, BUT IT'S NOT A DONE DEAL 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Per ref b), on June 22 and 23 ECONOFF and SCICouns spoke 
with Italian Foreign Ministry (MFA) energy experts Massimiliano 
Calamea and Andrea Marroni about Italy's views on the International 
Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).  They stated that an Italian 
inter-ministerial committee decided on June 23 that while Italy will 
not give an official public position on the choice of a headquarters 
(HQ) site for IRENA, the GOI will express in informal contacts with 
other governments a preference for the UAE.  Calamea and Marroni 
noted that if "important advances in the case for Bonn or Vienna 
were to be made," that position could change.  Calamea noted 
informally that Portugal has already declared its support for the 
UAE HQ site, and Spain has told him that they will support it as 
well.  (In turn, UAE reportedly will support the Spanish candidate 
for DG.) Calamea said he also had heard a rumor that France would 
support the UAE site, and that Austria would support Germany. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Marroni noted that that German Chancellor Merkel had 
written to Italian PM Berlusconi the week before asking for his 
support for Bonn as the headquarters choice.  He commented that the 
German Government was "frustrated" that after all the work they had 
put into getting IRENA off the ground, the headquarters might end up 
in the UAE.  Marroni asked if the U.S. had also received such a 
letter, and how the USG was dealing with German frustration on the 
headquarters issue, given the clear U.S. support for the UAE site. 
 
 
CONSULTATIONS FOR DG CANDIDATE ONGOING 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Calamea and Marroni said that the inter-ministerial 
committee did not provide political-level guidance for the Italian 
delegation regarding the choice of a Director General (DG) 
candidate.  Instead, GOI officials will be reaching out to the 
remaining DG candidates this week, and will choose among them based 
on how closely their proposals reflect Italy's objectives for IRENA. 
 Calamea noted that the Nigerian candidate had withdrawn his 
candidacy, leaving only European candidates for the position.  This 
strengthens the case for the UAE headquarters choice, Calamea said, 
since many developing countries do not want IRENA to be seen as a 
European project, and having both a European DG and HQ would give 
that impression. 
 
ITALIAN VISION FOR IRENA, PROPOSALS FOR ITS STRUCTURE 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to Calamea, Italy wants to avoid the overlapping 
of IRENA's work with that of the IEA, especially since Paolo Frankl, 
an Italian, is likely to head the IEA's new renewable energy 
division.  He said that Italy in particular does not want IRENA to 
re-produce the kind of scenarios that the IEA does.  Calamea stated 
that IRENA instead should focus on capacity-building and technology 
transfer. 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to Calamea, Italy would like to see at the Egypt 
 
ROME 00000736  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
meeting next week concrete discussions on the structure of IRENA, 
and that Italy's proposal in this respect would be along these 
lines: 
 
a) an advisory board to provide private sector perspective, drawing 
on the EU experience with the solar technology platform; and 
 
b) some type of regional and/or thematic groupings (say, 
concentrating solar, North Africa; geothermal, Chile; hydro power, 
Balkans); there could also be regional responsibilities for 
information-sharing, in areas such as the Mediterranean basin, 
sub-Saharan Africa, Central America. 
 
Calamea added that at the Egypt meeting Italy would also be 
interested in better understanding the types of directorates that 
are being proposed for IRENA, such as perhaps one for mature 
technologies, one for experimental technologies, and one for 
external affairs/outreach. 
 
ITALIAN RATIFICATION IN 12-18 MONTHS, FUNDING SCENARIOS 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
¶7. (SBU) Calamea estimated a 1-year to 1.5-year time frame from now 
for Italy to ratify the IRENA Statute, but he qualified that has not 
been following this issue closely. He also opined that Italy could 
make voluntary contributions similar in amount to its assessed 
contributions until ratification takes place, but that this is not 
certain at this point.  Marroni noted that in Italy's view, the 
proposed UAE funds should be additional to the contributions of 
member nations, not a substitute for them.  He added that IRENA 
should meet the standards of international organizations in terms of 
transparency in budget and staff selection, and not become overly 
influenced by the UAE contributions. 
 
ITALIAN INQUIRIES ON U.S. POSITION, DELEGATION 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Our Italian interlocutors inquired about the U.S. position 
on joining IRENA, and requested an update on the ongoing 
consultation with Congress.  Marroni asked about the composition of 
the U.S. delegation to the June 28-30 IRENA preparatory meeting in 
Egypt, and in particular if the Department of Energy would be 
represented.  He noted that "one word from Secretary Chu" in support 
of IRENA would make a huge difference for the organization.  Both 
Calamea and Marroni are expected to be part of the Italian 
delegation.  The senior MFA delegate will be Minister Pier Benedetto 
Francese of the MFA's Economic Bureau, but the head of delegation 
may in the end be from the Economic Development Ministry, which has 
responsibility for energy affairs. (Note: Calamea is on loan to the 
MFA from Italian para-statal electricity firm ENEL, and Marroni is 
on loan from a government-owned company that promotes renewable 
energy, Gestori Servizi Elettrici (GSE). End note). 
 
 
ACTION REQUEST 
-------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Post would appreciate any information which can be shared 
with the GOI about the Administration's consultations with Congress 
on joining IRENA; members of the U.S. delegation to the June 28-30 
meeting; and U.S.-Germany consultations on the IRENA HQ issue.  In 
order for Post to share the information with the GOI before the 
meeting, Post would need to receive it by opening of business 
Washington time on June 26. 
DIBBLE