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RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHTC #1902/01 2891456
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161456Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0541
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0556
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001902
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/WE, EUR/ERA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IS KPAL PREL PGOV ETRD ETTC NL EU
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/EU: DUTCH PREVIEW OCTOBER 15-16 GAERC
POSITIONS
REF: SECSTATE 141316
THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE
ACCORDINGLY.
1. (SBU) On October 10, Embassy shared reftel points with the
Dutch MFA's EU Correspondent, Desiree Kopmells; Deputy
Director for European Integration, Marisa Gerards; and
Pauline Diepenbroek, Senior Policy Officer, European
Cooperation Directorate.
2. (SBU) WTO off the agenda: Diepenbroek told Econoff that a
discussion of WTO/DDA had been taken off the agenda for the
upcoming GAERC meeting as well as the October 22 Agricultural
Council. She speculated that the EC had decided to wait to
brief EU Member States until they had a better sense of next
steps. Meanwhile, she said the GONL welcomed the USG
decision to consider "concrete texts" on Agriculture and
Non-Agricultural Market Access. The GONL remained committed
but had "measured optimism" of a successful Doha outcome in
all negotiating areas, she added.
3. (SBU) In response to STATE 143223, the matter of Iran will
be covered septel.
4. (SBU) Deputy EU Correspondent Rochus Pronk reviewed the
remaining agenda items with Poloff and presented the Dutch
positions:
IGC
---
5. (SBU) The Dutch are satisfied with the October 5 draft of
the EU treaty because it follows the IGC mandate from June
and because it will be presented as a treaty. Key elements
for the Dutch include the Charter on Fundamental Rights and
the Protocol on Services. The Dutch expect the week of
October 15 to be decisive, but Poland has a long list of
unresolved issues. Nonetheless, the Dutch expect the treaty
to be signed in December and ratified by the Dutch parliament
in 2008.
Burma
-----
6. (SBU) The Dutch support additional sanctions beyond the
2004 and 2006 measures; they want a strong signal to Burma.
Along with the UK, Sweden, and Denmark, the Dutch support
broadening sanctions to the oil and gas sectors, but other EU
members are opposed. The current sanctions package covers
precious metals and stones.
Kosovo
------
7. (SBU) The Dutch support the troika efforts but in order to
deploy any troops through ESDP, they need an international
mandate.
Russia
------
8. (SBU) The Dutch support a , critical, and
unified8 EU approach for the summit. They will continue to
raise economic relations, internal developments such as human
rights. PM Balkenende will visit Russia in November.
Libya
-----
9. (SBU) They have tasked or expect to task the Commission
with creating a plan for engaging Libya, to incorporate it
into the Barcelona process and the European neighbor policy.
Peace Process
-------------
10. (SBU) The Dutch position toward Hamas is unchanged.
They,ve provided 3 million Euros in response to the UNRA
appeal.
Iraq
----
11. (SBU) The Dutch support an increase UN presence. The
Dutch parliament is concerned about the treatment of
Christians, so they have pushed for language on the treatment
of religious minorities.
THE HAGUE 00001902 002 OF 002
Chad
----
12. (SBU) Netherlands supports a possible action8
and maybe a military contribution, but that decision is tied
to Afghanistan deployment.
Zimbabwe
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13. (SBU) The Dutch are cautiously optimistic about Mbeki,s
mediation. But the Dutch will attend the EU-AU summit.
Undecided who will attend though.
Afghanistan
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14. (SBU) The Dutch demarched GOA on the executions. Getting
the ESDP mission up and running has been a challenge.
Arnall