Brussels, 26/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission and Russia said on Wednesday that they were confident the disagreement over extending the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (extension that is essential because of the forthcoming accession to the EU by ten new members) could be resolved in coming weeks. "We are convinced that, with a little determination, it will be perfectly possible to reach an agreement before enlargement", a Commission spokesperson said. The Russian side expresses a view along the same lines. Russian diplomats said: "There will be a solution by 1 May on condition that the Union cooperates". "We are not seeking a pretext to complicate EU enlargement toward Central and Eastern Europe. We have never been against this enlargement. We simply hope that our legitimate concerns will be taken into account", they continued. A working meeting was held on Monday (see EUROPE of 23 March, p.9) resulting in an agreement on the approach to be followed for breaking the current deadlock. Thus:
On one hand, the EU and Russia will approve a protocol, which will make all the necessary legal adjustments to the Partnership Agreement to take enlargement into account. Even though the protocol will no doubt not be formally ratified by 1 May, the legal measures necessary will be taken to bring it into force on the day enlargement takes effect, in order to avoid any legal vacuum in EU/Russian relations after accession by the ten new members.
In parallel, both parties will adopt a joint political declaration aimed at the medium and long term. According to Moscow, the EU should give reassurance in this declaration that Russia' concerns about enlargement will be tackled in the future and addressed. "We are realistic and we know full well that all these problems cannot be resolved before enlargement takes place, but we want a written commitment on the part of the EU whereby these issues will be addressed in the future", the Russian diplomats explain.
In concrete terms, Russia has drawn up a list of concerns that it has submitted to the EU at regular intervals since 1999 and which, in the most recent version (dated February), still has 14 points. These points include in particular: 1) the fear that Russian exports to the new members will fall (because of the loss of former trade "preferences" in these countries and application of the EU tariff regime); "It is very difficult, if not impossible, to calculate today how much Russia will lose in trade, but it is obvious that we shall lose a great deal of money", Russian diplomats say. This argument, however, is constantly refuted by the Commission which affirms that the EU's tariff protection is on average far lower than that formerly in force in acceding countries; 2) the fear of massively extending anti-dumping procedures against Russian exports towards the new members (Russia would like the EU to review all its anti-dumping legislation concerning Russia); 3) complication of goods transit from Russia to Kaliningrad (Moscow hopes to keep the current facilities enjoyed for transit through Lithuania); 4) additional difficulties for exporting nuclear products towards traditional markets in acceding countries; 5) failure to comply with the rights of Russian-speaking minorities living in Estonia and Latvia. Russian diplomats consider it is not "normal" for these rights to continue not to be honoured, despite the satisfaction expressed on the EU side about progress made. The Copenhagen political criteria are in this respect "too vague and not concrete enough", and Moscow considers the EU should put "some kind of pressure" on Latvia and Estonia so that they put an end to the "flagrant violation" of international standards in this respect; and 6) the Russian request for mutual abolition of the visa obligation by 2007 or 2008. Hitherto, Russian citizens had not needed a visa to visit most of the acceding countries (or even to go to Cyprus), whereas, with accession by these countries, "we are creating an Iron Curtain with regard to visas", Russian diplomats say.
The European Commission is willing to take "reasonable and logical" measures needed in the commercial field such as a rise in steel import quotas and quotas for other Russian products, due to the extension of the EU internal market to the ten new members. On such commercial issues, an agreement seems, moreover, to be close at hand. On the other hand, the Commission refuses to take into account in the joint declaration matters which, in its opinion, are not directly linked to enlargement, such as the question of Russian-speaking minorities in the Baltic States. Talks are continuing at several levels, but two major events will open in April to settle the matter just in time for enlargement: - on 22 April, President Romano Prodi and other Commissioners are to be in Moscow; - and on 27 April, the first meeting of the Permanent Partnership Council is to be held in Luxembourg, possibly preceded by a meeting with the Troika.