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Viewing cable 09DUSSELDORF44, WHAT IS STIRRING NRW M-P RUETTGERS ON HIS ROAD TO ELECTIONS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09DUSSELDORF44 2009-11-03 10:15 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Dusseldorf
VZCZCXRO7016
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHDF #0044/01 3071015
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 031015Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0244
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 0001
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 0260
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSSELDORF 000044 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR RON BLOOM, JEFF BAKER AND ICN (KOHLER) 
STATE FOR EEB AND EUR/CE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EFIN ETRD ELAB SENV PL GM
SUBJECT: WHAT IS STIRRING NRW M-P RUETTGERS ON HIS ROAD TO ELECTIONS 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000044  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
1.  (U) Summary: During an October 28 introductory call by the 
Consul General, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) Minister-President 
Juergen Ruettgers, newly returned from hosting federal coalition 
negotiations at the NRW representation in Berlin, took stock of 
national topics and the state of major policy initiatives of 
President Obama, as well as the state of the global economy, 
financial/banking controls, and the situation with the pending 
sale of Opel.  He also touched on his efforts on the Auschwitz 
Foundation to preserve the former concentration camp's 
infrastructure.   His focus was on how the domestic could affect 
the international.  End summary. 
 
 
 
Climate Change and the Economy 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
2. (U) Christian Democratic Union (CDU) M-P Ruettgers, who 
couldn't resist noting NRW's status as the world's 17th largest 
economy, focused on what President Obama might accomplish 
domestically which could have international resonance.  On the 
upcoming Copenhagen climate change meeting, Ruettgers wondered 
whether the U.S. will come prepared to offer more than domestic 
regulatory advances and a changed attitude.  He expressed 
concern with what he understood was the U.S. Senate's refusal on 
principle to ratify international treaties.  The CG pointed out 
that the President had recently pushed through a UN human rights 
treaty that had languished for some years, indicating a 
different approach by the new Administration. 
 
 
 
3. (U) With regard to the world economic crisis, the M-P was 
cautious.  The prognosis here in Germany is that while the 
economic downturn may have hit bottom, it is too early to 
declare victory.  It could be a long, slow slog before we would 
really see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Many companies 
that have held on to workers in the hope of an upturn might 
start letting people go, fuelling unemployment.  As all seek to 
stabilize financial institutions, he wondered whether the U.S. 
administration would be prepared to agree to tougher 
international regulatory standards, or would rely on domestic 
changes.  Asked what the alternative would be, Ruettgers 
responded that agreement within the EU was the next best 
alternative, though he worried about New York bankers lobbying 
their UK counterparts to hold out.  In that case, though 
international regulation would be the preferable, they might 
have to settle for Euro-zone regulation, which he saw as 
attainable.  He was betting the excess liquidity currently 
searching for a home would, in the current more cautious 
environment, find its way to those markets with the best, most 
reliable regulatory standards.  Though the U.S. was keen to gain 
an influx of investment to finance its deficit, he saw the drop 
in the value of the Dollar versus the Euro as a signal that 
better regulatory regimes would win the day. 
 
 
 
Opel 
 
------ 
 
 
 
4. (SBU) Ruettgers then turned to the subject of the Opel sale 
from GM to Magna.  Shortly prior to the meeting, he had learned 
that GM's board of directors had again delayed signing the 
agreement finalizing the sale of Opel to Canadian company Magna 
by another week.    Complaining that the ongoing situation with 
Opel has "cost (NRW) lots of money," Ruettgers emphasized that 
whatever one thinks of Magna, Frank Stronach is "ready to sign," 
but GM management continues to create delays.  He then went on 
to say that if GM believes for a minute that NRW or any German 
state would give a penny to GM if it tries to retain Opel, then 
GM has seriously miscalculated.  GM, he said, has made too many 
mistakes in recent years, and now has no capital with which to 
back up its bravado.  Ruettgers explicitly exempted GM's chief 
Opel negotiator Fritz Henderson from this criticism.  The Opel 
issue, he added, had been a topic of tough conversation during 
the federal coalition negotiations, but he rejected German press 
speculation that Rainer Bruederle (FDP), the new Federal 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000044  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
Economics Minister, would reconsider the deal with Magna in 
favor of a GM-based solution.  Such unfounded speculation, as 
well as problems with EU officials in Brussels, he implied, were 
intentionally disseminated by GM in Detroit. 
 
 
 
Saving Auschwitz 
 
----------------------- 
 
 
 
5. (U) An entirely different topic was Ruettgers' efforts to 
work with the Auschwitz Foundation, including Polish Minister of 
State Bartoszewski, to find a solution to the uncomfortable 
problem of Auschwitz's crumbling infrastructure, and the even 
more dire straits of Birkenau.  The buildings were not built to 
last, the bricks are disintegrating, and a solution must be 
found, according to Ruettgers.  As the only German member of the 
Foundation, Ruettgers was clear in his determination to work 
toward a solution. 
 
 
 
Comment: A Topic that Hit Home 
 
------------- 
 
 
 
5. (SBU) Ruettgers was clearly agitated when discussing Opel and 
GM.  He can be expected to oppose any deal where GM would retain 
Opel as a full subsidiary, since he likely fears the plant in 
Bochum, NRW would be one of the first victims of such a 
solution.  At the very least, he would be keen to avoid a 
decision on the future of Bochum until after the May 9, 2010 NRW 
state elections.  Though passionate on the Opel issue, Ruettgers 
went out of his way to be forthcoming and friendly, and to 
underscore the importance for NRW - and its economy - of 
continued strong ties with the U.S. 
 
 
 
6.  (U)  This message was coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
WEINER