Brussels, 07/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 10 May, the Foreign Affairs Council will take stock of the EU's position with a view to the summit with Russia on 31 May and 1 June in Rostov-on-Don, to be attended by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The EU will be represented at the summit by Herman Van Rompuy, José Manuel Barroso and Catherine Ashton.
Partnership for Modernisation. The main objective of the EU27 will be to reach a general agreement with the Russians on the approach and priorities of Partnership for Modernisation, suggested by Barroso during the last summit in November 2009, in Stockholm. The idea is not to create new institutions (negotiations on a new partnership agreement are underway) but to give momentum to the implementation of the four “common spaces” and find solutions to bilateral problems that, for example, exist in the trade area or in talks relating to Russia's membership of the WTO. A joint declaration is foreseen on shared objectives and the priorities of the new “modernised” partnership.
Economic and financial crisis. The crisis will most certainly be discussed at the summit all the more as Russian authorities want to know more about the Greek crisis and about the consequences that this will have on the eurozone. The EU, for its part, is resolved to remind Medvedev that “raising tariff barriers and retreating behind protectionist walls is not the right response” to the economic crisis, according to the note prepared by Coreper for Monday's Council. The EU27 will therefore call on Moscow, saying “the very significant tariff increases need to be reversed”.
WTO membership. The EU welcomes the fact that membership is apparently still a priority for Russia but underlines that the process has become more “complex” since the creation of customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan. Moscow can still count on the support of the EU to join the WTO “but the ball is still in Russia's court”, the report states. If customs union were changed into a single economic space, it would be necessary to ensure that it is compatible with the WTO and that it does not engender more difficult trade and investment conditions, the EU stresses.
Visas. The EU expects that Russia will express its wish to obtain a prospect for a visa-free regime with the EU. The 27 member states consider that this is a “long term objective” but place emphasis on a “step-by-step approach focusing on substance and practical progress”. The EU, for its part, calls on Russia to facilitate procedures for obtaining work permits in Russia.
Human rights. Certain developments in Russia are “encouraging” (moratorium on death penalty, ratification of Protocol 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, etc.) but “day-to-day reality for human rights defenders and journalists remains dangerous and unpredictable”, the Coreper report states. The EU will restate its solidarity with Moscow on counter-terrorism.
Other subjects of discussion will be climate change, energy supply security (the EU continues to press for the principles of the Energy Charter to be included in the future new partnership agreement), the situation in the common neighbourhood (Georgia, Ukraine, etc.), and international issues such as Iran, Afghanistan/Pakistan, and the Middle East. (H.B./transl.jl)