As the US and Russian presidents met in Geneva, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, presented, on Wednesday 16 June, the new Joint Communication of the High Representative and the European Commission on EU/Russia relations.
The fourteen-page Joint Communication “takes stock of the state of the relationship in all its complexities and proposes the way forward”, Mr Borrell told the media. Thus, the Communication provides an update of the implementation of the five guiding principles that have governed relations with Russia since 2016: full implementation of the Minsk agreements, strengthened relations with the EU’s eastern partners and other neighbours, strengthened resilience of the EU, selective engagement with Russia on issues of interest to the EU, and finally, people-to-people contacts and support to Russian civil society.
It also takes up the three lines of action proposed by Mr Borrell on 22 February: “push back, contain and engage” (see EUROPE 12663/1).
“Under the present circumstances, we believe that a renewed partnership allowing us to realise the full potential of a close cooperation with Russia is a distant prospect”, the High Representative said, explaining that the EU should be realistic and prepare for a further downturn in its relations with Russia, “which are, right now, at the lowest level”. “This further downturn is the most likely outlook for the time being”, he insisted.
However, for Mr Borrell, the European ambition should be to explore ways that can help gradually change the current dynamics gradually into a more predictable and stable relationship.
Push back
According to the Communication, the EU will therefore continue to respond to Russian violations of human rights and international law, notably in Ukraine and Georgia.
“The EU will seek to limit the resources available to the Russian government to carry out its disruptive foreign policy”, the statement warns, adding that the EU will enforce its legislation more effectively to counter criminal activity from Russia in a targeted manner and will step up its fight against corruption and money laundering, including through increased transparency.
“The EU will intensify its action against coercive practices by third countries, including Russia, by developing a new autonomous tool to provide effective responses to deter and neutralise coercion”, the Communication also proposes.
Contain
“To contain Russia’s attempts to undermine the EU’s interests, the Union itself must become more robust and resilient”, the Communication says as well. To do this, Mr Borrell said, the EU must develop its cybersecurity and defence capacities, as well as its strategic communication capabilities by stepping up work on foreign information manipulation and disinformation. On this point, the Communication proposes to strengthen the regulatory framework for social media platforms.
“The EU is considering introducing new instruments for imposing costs on offenders, including in the framework of the European Action Plan for Democracy”, the document also warns. The EU will also continue to strengthen its capabilities against hybrid threats.
“We must also use the advantage provided by our energy transition and support the energy security of our neighbours”, the High Representative added, recalling that the EU’s energy transition would crucially affect Russia in terms of the energy mix. Russia’s energy exports account for 25% of its GDP and 40% of state budget revenues.
The EU also intends to strengthen support for its Eastern partners.
Engage
Lastly, the EU wants to engage with Russia when it comes to promoting its interests, notably on the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and regional and international issues, such as the Middle East, Afghanistan, the Iranian nuclear deal, Libya or the fight against terrorism and non-proliferation.
“We should also continue to address the more technical engagement with the Russian government on the vast number of economic irritants in our relationship”, Mr Borrell said.
The EU intends, as well, to strengthen people-to-people contacts, including through greater visa facilitation, especially for young people, academics and work exchanges, and to continue to support Russian civil society and human rights defenders by being more “flexible and creative in doing so”.
The publication of this communication comes ahead of the European Council on 24 June, which will discuss relations between the EU and Russia. The European Council had asked the High Representative and the European Commission on 24 May to prepare a report “with policy options” before the summit (see EUROPE 12725/2). Mr Borrell said that if the leaders agreed to the Communication, it would then be fleshed out with concrete elements.
Strengthening European unity
The leaders discussion could be an opportunity to strengthen European unity, as called for by the High Representative.
“There is unity, despite Russian attempts to divide us, and this unity remains our main asset and must be even more robust”, Mr Borrell said. He said that if Europeans want to show unity in front of Russia and if they want to really implement this policy, “they will have to understand that they cannot go one by one having bilateral deals” with Moscow. “If everybody said: ‘You have to talk to the European Union’, then Russia will have to talk with the European Union or talk with no one”, said the EU diplomatic chief.
See the Joint Communication: https://bit.ly/3iK73Np (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)