Luxembourg, 03/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - The General Affairs/External Relations Council on 3 October in Luxembourg gave its approval to the compromises that the British EU Presidency has negotiated over recent weeks with Russia concerning the last outstanding issues in negotiations on concluding a re-admission agreement and visa facilitation. It is therefore highly likely that the two agreements may be officially concluded on 4 October during the EU/Russia Summit in London, which will be attended by Russia's President Vladimir Putin, the President-in-Office of the European Council, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, as well as EU High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana. The EU has always requested that the two agreements be adopted at the same time and implemented in parallel. Broadly speaking, three technical problems have required intensive talks over recent days between the Presidency and the Russian experts. Two of these problems concern the re-admission agreement: - the maximum time in which Russia should, in future, respond to a request by the EU to re-admit a citizen who is in an illegal situation on Union territory and who entered the EU via Russia. While Moscow had hoped that up to 60 days would be allowed, some EU Member States considered this too long. The compromise would consist in fixing the time allowed at 25 days, with the possibilty of extending it to 60 days at most, except if the request comes from a Member State whose internal legislation imposes a time for response and, in any case, less than 60 days; - the conditions for re-admission of third country nationals or stateless people having crossed through Russia to reach the EU and who find themselves in an illegal situation in the EU. It is foreseen that these affairs will be treated on a case by case basis in the context of the joint committee to be established with the agreement. The third problem concerns visa facilitation in Russia. Several Member States (in particular Sweden but also the three Baltic States and Denmark) have expressed the fear that these procedures will prove too complex and slow and that, as a result, the visa facilitation agreement may not bring real improvements or “added value” compared to the current situation. These countries trust that Russia will show proof of being in earnest when it comes to simplifying the granting of visas, diplomatic sources say. The British EU Council Presidency has suggested that this issue should be the subject of correspondence with Moscow and that it should also be raised by the leaders during the summit on Tuesday. It will also be a question to be raised at the next EU/Russia Permanent Partnership Council on justice and home affairs, on 13 October.
Furthermore, the London summit will discuss implementation of the four common “spaces” that the EU and Russia have decided to develop. In the context of the third space (external security), it will also be a matter of Russia's membership to the WTO. International issues will be on the agenda, especially the peace process in the Middle East, the role of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), Iran's nuclear programme and the Western Balkans. The EU will again urge Russia to ratify the border agreement with Estonia, and to sign (and ratify) the agreement with Latvia. (See also other articles).