Brussels, 15/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - Cooperation in the field of energy, nuclear power, economic and legal reforms in Russia, enlargement, and European security and defence policy will be the main issues of the seventh Summit between the European Union and Russia, which will take place on 17 May in Moscow. The Swedish Prime Minister, Goran Persson, the European Commission President, Romano Prodi, and the Council High Representative for external policy, Javier Solana, will be received by President Putin, for a Summit that is situated in the continuity of the numerous EU-Russia meeting and which thus is nothing truly new, according to a source close to the Commission.
The EU should bring its support to the reform process in Russia, but also show its concern over the conflict in Chechnya and the situation of the Russian media. Concerning Chechnya, the Commission should raise the same points as during the previous meetings, and notably call for better access and greater security for the NGOs. The EU should also call on Russia to go further in the reform of its economy, its justice system, and its administration and try to push forward the talks over several trade disputes, whose resolution would help the Russian preparation for accession to the WTO.
Two days before the Summit, the Commission expressed the hope that one of the main results of the Summit be a political agreement over the multilateral nuclear environment programme for Russia (MNEPR). If a political agreement is reached, the negotiations could be concluded in the weeks to come, felt the Commission spokesperson. This programme requires a budget of around several hundred million Euro in the years to come, of which around fifty would be provided by the Commission, added the Commission spokesperson. However, the negotiations are not progressing at the pace foreseen during the last Cooperation Council, according to European diplomats, who fear that, due to Russia, no agreement will be reached during this Summit. Let us recall that this programme is aimed a providing a basis for international cooperation (EU, United States, Norway…) for the management of different forms of waste and dangers of nuclear contamination in Russia.
The Summit should begin with the examination of the situation in Russia (the economic and political reforms, Chechnya, the media) and in the EU (European security and defence policy, enlargement). Then the participants will discuss EU-Russia cooperation (dialogue on the security policy, trade and investment, energy - which the Commission discussed on Wednesday, Kaliningrad, Justice and Home Affairs, MNEPR, the Kyoto Protocol, cooperation in science and technology). Finally, the international issues (Middle East, Korea, Balkans, Belarus).