Brussels, 03/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Russia's membership of the WTO, the state of progress in talks on a new partnership agreement and international political and security issues will be the main points discussed at the EU-Russia summit in Brussels on Tuesday 7 December. The European delegation will be headed by Herman Van Rompuy, José Manuel Barroso, Catherine Ashton and Commissioner Karel De Gucht. Russia will be represented by President Dmitri Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the trade minister.
WTO. The memorandum of understanding confirming the bilateral agreement reached at the end of November on Russia's accession to the WTO will be signed on the sidelines of the summit. However, after 17 years of talks, the settlement of bilateral issues with the EU does not yet open the road to Russian membership of the WTO as there are still many issues to be negotiated at multilateral level, in Geneva, European diplomats explained on Friday. At the summit, the EU will also raise bilateral trade problems still to be resolved, such as the rise in certain Russian import duties.
Partnership agreement, partnership for modernisation. The two parties will take stock of the state of progress of talks (underway for two and a half years) on a “new basic agreement” to one day replace the current partnership and cooperation agreement. Talks are moving forward well, European diplomats say, refusing however to speculate on the date when the agreement will be concluded. Europeans and Russians will also tackle other issues on the table relating to bilateral relations, especially the new “partnership for modernisation” as well as the setting up of the four “common spaces” decided in 2003. Vladimir Putin's recent defence of an EU-Russia free trade area will no doubt also be discussed at the summit. The idea is not new as one of the common spaces launched in 2003 provides precisely for the creation of an economic area without barriers. In addition, the new partnership agreement will provide for the possibility of negotiating a free trade agreement but only after Russia's membership of the WTO.
Visas. On 19 November this year, both sides agreed on a method that would allow legislative, technical and administrative measures to be defined, measures that both Russia and the EU should take to be able to one day benefit from visa waiver. It is not planned that the summit should take any new initiative on this, European diplomats say, except to “give a new political momentum to this technical process”.
International issues. These will be one of the main matters under discussion at the summit, and will cover, for example, the situation in the “common neighbourhood”, especially in Ukraine, Transnistria and Georgia. On this last point, the EU will reiterate its support for Georgia's territorial integrity and urge Moscow to abide by the agreements reached at the end of the conflict in Georgia in summer 2008. European and Russian leaders will also be kept informed by Catherine Ashton of the results of talks between the “3+3” and Iran on the nuclear programme, that will have taken place the day before (6-7 December) in Geneva. Both sides will also assess the results of the recent OSCE summit in Astana (1 December) and the outcome of the Cancun conference on climate change.
Human rights. As always, the EU will raise the question of the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Russia, a subject that remains “a source of concern”, European diplomats explained on Friday. (H.B./transl.jl)