Brussels, 03/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - Largely dominated by the discussions on combating terrorism and the future of security policy in Europe, the EU/Russia Summit on Wednesday (attended above all by Russian President Vladimir Putin, President-in-Office of the European Council Guy Verhofstadt, Commission President Romano Prodi and High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana) resulted in the adoption of a series of declarations and concrete decisions in several fields. These mainly cover:
- International terrorism. In a separate declaration, both parties stressed that terrorism, for whatever motivation or from whatever origin, cannot be justified. The EU and Russia are ready to develop their anti-terrorist cooperation within as broad a world coalition as possible. "We have decided to intensify our cooperation in the aim of fighting international terrorism", the declaration reads. In this context, it was agreed on Wednesday that the EU and Russia would, within the framework of the existing structures and bodies of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), study, together, the conditions and arrangements for exchanging information on: - the activities and movements of individuals or groups belonging to terrorist networks or having links with such networks; - travel documents of dubious authenticity; - deliveries of arms, explosives and dual purpose material; - financial transactions likely to be used to sustain terrorists; - and the new forms of terrorist activity, including chemical, biological and nuclear threats. Speaking before the press, after the meeting, President Putin stressed that it is not enough to combat terrorism once it is present, but that one must also tackle the "real roots" of terrorism, such as poverty, the lack of prospects and the eternal Middle East conflict. It would be very appropriate and useful for Russia and the EU to play an active role, in the future, in the political solution of such problems, said Mr Putin. During discussions on terrorism, Chechnya was also mentioned, and the EU expressed its "support to the efforts made by Russian authorities with a view to a political solution". A political solution, at this stage, remains the aim of the Russian government, Mr Putin explained to the press after the meeting. Those, in Chechnya, who wish to recognise their "error" and return to society still have the opportunity of doing so, on condition that they break all contact with the "terrorists". At any rate, Moscow did not intend to make "abusive" use of the situation after the attacks on the United States to rapidly resolve the situation in Chechnya by military force alone, without taking the civil population into account. "We are doing everything we can to reduce the risk for the civil population to a minimum", said the Russian President.
- Strengthened dialogue and cooperation on political and security issues. The EU and Russia agreed on Wednesday to intensify their already existing political consultation and to make it "more operational", mainly in major areas concerning international current events. Thus, it was decided that, after the consultation already in place, specific meetings would be organised as events unfold between the EU's Political and Security Committee (or its president) and Russia, including at ambassadorial level. In addition, monthly meetings will now be held between the Troika and the EU Political and Security Committee and Russia, in order to take stock of consultation concerning crisis prevention and management. Speaking before the press, Mr Putin expressed the hope that this reinforced and regular dialogue on political and security issues would one day result in the setting in place of a permanent EU and Russia structure in which all security-related issues in Europe may be covered. In a separate declaration on cooperation in political and security matters, the EU and Russia also announced that the arrangements for eventual Russian participation in crisis management operations (of a civilian and military kind) would be developed according to "progress made in ESDP".
- Energy cooperation. A new "formal" phase in preparations for an energy partnership between the EU and Russia has been initiated. Since autumn last year, experts on both sides had held technical consultations in order to explore ways in which to help Russia reform its energy sector (in order to attract more European investment) and to increase supplies of gas and oil to consumer countries in Europe. "Now, we consider the initial, analytical and exploratory phase of the dialogue to be over" and the preparatory work will have to be taken to political level with a view to taking the necessary decisions for setting up the "energy (…/…)
partnership", say both parties in another separate declaration approved on Wednesday. On the basis of technical work accomplished so far, the Summit agreed that, in the short term, concrete progress now had to be made in view of: - perfecting the legal basis in Russia concerning the production and transport of energy and production-sharing agreements; - simplifying the administrative procedures and for granting licences for foreign investors; - making the energy transport network secure; - acknowledging as being of "common interest" certain new energy transport infrastructures, such as the inter-connection of electricity grids, northern trans-European gas pipelines, the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline network transiting through Belarus and Poland, the upgrading of the site of Shtokman, and (regarding oil) the connection of the "Droubja" transmission system (transiting through Belarus and Ukraine) with the "Adria" network; - launching pilot-projects in view of promoting energy efficiency in Russia. The EU also placed emphasis on the need, for Russia, to ratify the Treaty of the Energy Charter. Wednesday, both parties decided to set up a high-level committee responsible for pushing forward talks on these different subjects. The committee will have to hand in its first report next spring. Speaking to the press, Mr. Putin said he was disappointed at the fact that, since the EU/Russia Summit of Moscow last May, "not enough progress" had been made regarding the energy partnership, "but I hope that we shall now be able to catch up that delay."
- Creation of a Common European Economic Space. The two sides decided on Wednesday to set up a high-level joint group (where Commissioner Chris Patten will represent the EU) responsible for elaborating the concept of a Common European Economic Space (idea mooted by Mr. Prodi at the Summit in May). In concrete terms, the group (to meet twice a year), will have to consider how economic relations between the EU and Russia could be intensified through greater economic integration and closer alignment of respective legislation (it is not a question of a free-trade area, diplomats stress). The group will have to decide on the means and mechanisms to attain that objective, as well as on the timetable. The group will make regular reports to the bodies of the Partnership Agreement and the Summits. An initial assessment of work undertaken will be carried out in October 2003 at the latest.
The final joint declaration of the Summit also refers to other subjects discussed, such as EU enlargement (this enlargement must not trace out new lines of separation in Europe, but "form closer ties between the enlarged Union and Russia"), Russia's accession negotiations to the WTO (these negotiations must be "accelerated") and nuclear safety (the EU and Russia undertake to finalise negotiations on the multilateral nuclear environmental programme in Russia, MNEPR, as quickly as possible).
