Brussels, 10/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - The EU is calling for “clear, political assurances” from Moscow that there will be no further cuts or reductions in gas and oil supplies towards the 27 EU member states independently of any conflicts that might arise in the future between Russia and third countries, Ukraine for example. This claim will be put to the Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev, during the EU/Russia summit on 18 November in Stockholm, according to a note from the Swedish EU Presidency discussed at the Political and Security Committee (PSC) on Tuesday 10 November in Brussels. Preparation of the summit will also be discussed by member state ambassadors (Coreper) on Thursday 12 November as well as by foreign ministers at the External Relations Council on 16/17 November.
Everything points to the summit being able to approve the establishment of an early warning mechanism to prevent interruption of Russian fossil fuel supplies (EUROPE 10015) but member states also expect political guarantees on the part of Russia that none of its member states will ever have to suffer a gas crisis again as in 2006, 2008 and 2009. “The summit should establish an enhanced early warning mechanism, to be accompanied by clear political assurances from Russia (…) that, in the event of possible disputes between Russia and a third country, the transit and/or export of oil and gas to the EU would not be reduced or cut off”, it is stipulated in the Presidency's note. Still with regard to energy, the EU will also, once more, regret Russian withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty and will insist that the basic principles of this treaty (which has been signed but never ratified by Moscow) should at any rate be enshrined in the energy chapter of the new strengthened partnership agreement that the EU and Russia are negotiating.
Trade. In Stockholm, the EU will express its “serious concerns” regarding the restrictive unilateral measures that Russia has taken recently and which, according to the Presidency's note, have a “severe impact” on European companies as well as in the fields of products and services. The EU27 will call on Moscow to “reverse increases in import tariffs and export duties” and to put an end to the “disproportionate application of sanitary and phytosanitary rules”. Europeans will also stress that the project of a customs union between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus (which should be operational as of 1 January 2010) should under no circumstances lead to a rise in import/export duties. Moscow should also be quite clear about the question of whether it plans to pursue the process for individual WTO accession (which seems unlikely) or whether it is really planning to join as a customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus. In this second hypothesis, the process could be longer, which will also have repercussions on EU/Russia talks on the new partnership agreement. The latter must, in principle, foresee the conclusion of a free trade zone but only once Russia has joined the WTO.
Rule of law, human rights. Summit discussions could prove tense with regard to human rights, rule of law and the state of democracy in Russia, which Europeans consider “worrying”. According to the Presidency's note, the EU should “welcome the positive statements” by President Medvedev on these matters but also “stress that words must be followed by action”. The EU27 are, in particular, expected to question Russian leaders about the state of investigations on the various assassinations of human rights activists and journalists, the Presidency note reads.
Visas. The EU and Russia have launched dialogue on the prospects of future visa liberalisation but Moscow would like the process to be speeded up with the establishment of an ambitious timetable and clear criteria. The EU, as the Swedish Presidency points out, should “engage proactively and in a constructive spirit in a focused and deepened dialogue on this question”.
At the Stockholm summit, the EU will be represented by Fredrik Reinfeldt and Carl Bildt (Swedish Presidency), Javier Solana (High Representative for CFSP) and also José Manuel Barroso, Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Catherine Ashton (Commission). It is also foreseen that the leaders of both parties sign financing agreements for the cross-border cooperation (CBC) programmes, as well as an agreement on the protection of classified information. (H.B./transl.jl)