VZCZCXRO1700
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHCP #0537/01 3311532
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271532Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5344
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COPENHAGEN 000537 
 
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DEPT FOR S/SECC, OES, EUR/NB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KGHG PGOV PREL DA
SUBJECT:  (SBU) HEDEGAARD TO EU COMMISSION AFTER COP-15; SUCCESSOR 
LIKELY TO DEFER, THEN FOLLOW EXAMPLE 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000537  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
(U)  SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen on November 24 
named Connie Hedegaard as Denmark's EU Commissioner; she is expected 
to get the climate portfolio.  He named Copenhagen University 
Vice-rector Lykke Friis as Hedegaard's replacement as Minister of 
Climate and Energy.  Hedegaard will retain her role and cabinet rank 
for the upcoming climate conference (COP-15)--Rasmussen named her 
"Minister for the UN's Climate Conference in Copenhagen"--through 
the end of the conference.  Friis is known as an EU expert but is a 
relative newcomer to politics.  She is well known to the Embassy and 
expected to continue Hedegaard's efforts to promote PM Rasmussen's 
proposed political deal at COP-15 and to continue Hedegaard's 
activist role in international negotiations after Hedegaard's 
departure for Brussels.   The cabinet change is seen as 
strengthening Rasmussen's governing Liberal Party, at the expense of 
Hedegaard's Conservative Party, who will lose a high-profile figure 
popular with voters to Brussels.  Driven by internal EU politics, 
the Hedegaard-Friis shift is unlikely to affect Denmark's continued 
advocacy of a comprehensive politically-binding climate agreement in 
Copenhagen.  End Summary. 
 
REACTION POSITIVE 
----------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) Social Democratic opposition leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt 
praised Friis for her personal qualities but charged that she might 
not fit in the governing coalition.  "I doubt whether Lykke Friis 
will be able to accept that generally, it's the Danish People's 
Party that has the final say on most issues.  And at the heart of 
the Liberal Party there are still many who believe that all this 
speculation about the climate is pure nonsense," she said.  Pia 
Kjaersgaard, leader of the Danish People's Party on which the ruling 
coalition depends, urged PM Rasmussen to make more dramatic cabinet 
changes to refresh the governing coalition.  She said:  "This 
government is looking very tired and it would freshen things up if 
the PM's New Year speech contained some new initiatives and new 
ministers."  Kjaersgaard added:  "The government knows it's worn out 
and that's why they had to bring in an outsider, Ms. Friis, to the 
climate ministry.  I find that incredible." 
 
¶3.  (U) Biographic Information:  Lykke Friis (dob 10/27/69) became 
vice rector of Copenhagen University in 2006.  While new to 
electoral politics (reportedly joining the Liberal Party just days 
before being named minister), Friis is a recognized expert on 
political and EU affairs.  The politics of the EU has been her main 
academic and professional field of interest.  She earned a Master's 
Degree from the London School of Economics in 1992, and in 1994 was 
a Robert Schuman Scholar at the European Parliament.  In 1997 she 
earned her doctorate from the University of Copenhagen, in Political 
Science.  Friis served as Director of European Affairs (2003-06) for 
the Danish Confederation of Industries.  From 1996-2002 she served 
in different capacities at the Danish Institute of International 
Affairs, a government-supported think tank. 
 
¶4.  (U) Friis' recent book, called "Oysters at Kampinski," was her 
fifth about Europe and the EU.  She has lectured at various Danish 
universities, writes a column in two leading Danish newspapers, and 
is a frequent political commentator on Danish radio and television. 
She has participated on various Danish honorary boards, including 
the government's Climate Commission from 2007-2009, and has won 
various awards.  Friis has been a member of the Trilateral 
Commission since 2004 and was named in 1999-2000 as Denmark's 
representative to the Nordic "Wise Men" Grouping. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Friis is highly dynamic, outgoing, and loves to use humor 
in her public presentations.  Friis' family background is German. 
She is married but has no children.  She visited the U.S. on a group 
IVLP on U.S. Foreign Policy in the fall of 1999, and won an 
Eisenhower fellowship in 2002.  Friis has been active with the 
Embassy, attending Embassy functions and serving as an advisor on a 
number of Embassy programs, including minority issues and the 
Fulbright Commission. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Thus far, Hedegaard's future EU assignment has not had any 
discernable impact on her advocacy of Denmark's pragmatic push for a 
political agreement at COP-15, and she has publicly affirmed that 
she will represent Denmark's interest as host nation until she takes 
up her new assignment in Brussels.  We are told by her aides not to 
expect any shift before COP-15 ends. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) For her part, Friis is likely to defer to Rasmussen and 
Hedegaard's leadership during COP-15, and then vigorously promote 
Rasmussen's vision after Hedegaard leaves to take up her post in 
Brussels.  Hedegaard's advisors tell us she and Friis do not know 
 
COPENHAGEN 00000537  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
each other well, but that Friis is expected to avoid pushing any 
national position that would complicate matters for the COP-15 chair 
(initially Hedegaard, followed by Rasmussen during the high level 
segment Dec 16-19).  The analogy they draw is to the norm for EU 
nations occupying the EU presidency. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) After COP-15 ends and Hedegaard departs for Brussels, we 
expect Friis to assume a greater role in Danish climate 
policy-making, following Hedegaard's example of vigorous pursuit of 
international negotiations toward a legally binding climate 
agreement. 
 
FULTON