Brussels, 23/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - Despite current tensions and the increasing number of litigation cases between the EU27 and their Russian partner, the committee on international trade (INTA) of the European Parliament is recommending constructive dialogue on economic and trade relations between the Union and Russia. This was the general message, sent out ahead of the examination at next June's plenary session, of the report by German member Godelieve Quisthoudt-Rowohl (EPP-ED) on “The Union's Economic and Trade Relations with Russia”, which it adopted on Monday.
Although it welcomes the “impressive” economic growth since the 1998 crisis and the structural reforms undertaken in Russia, the Parliamentary committee believes nonetheless that further reforms are necessary. It also calls for new efforts to be made in the fight against corruption and calls for regulatory convergence and harmonisation of standards and assessment procedures for long-term conformity between the Union and Russia: in particular, they target services (financial services, telecommunications and transport) and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures in the agricultural sector. On this last point, it calls upon the Union to find a “common solution” to the Russian embargo on exports of Polish meat.
Stressing the importance of Russia joining the WTO in terms of bilateral economic and commercial opportunities, the INTA committee calls on Moscow to resolve the technical issues still outstanding (export tariffs on wood, discriminatory railway tariffs, see EUROPE 9422 and 9428).
The INTA committee states also that it is concerned at the degenerating climate for investments in Russia by foreign companies operating in the sectors of steel, natural resources and energy. In particular, it is concerned at a “bill authorising the government to reject foreign offers for majority stakes in Russian companies, thus banning stakes greater than 49% (…) in 39 strategic industries”.
The complexity of customs procedures, the practices of dumping, the imposition of Russian anti-dumping taxes on certain Community exports, such as steel products, are also major sources of concern for the INTA committee, which also feels that it is necessary to adapt the Russian legal system in order effectively to protect intellectual property rights and, more particularly, to fight against the production and sales of counterfeit medicines.
Lastly, the Quisthoudt-Rowohl report devotes a major chapter to energy, calling for closer cooperation in the framework of EU/Russia energy dialogue, in which emphasis should be laid in particular on issues relating to the sustainability and reliability of the production, transport and use of energy. In order to provide new bases for energy relations between the Union and Russia, and thus to help ensure Europe's supplies from its number one provider of oil and gas, the INTA committee proposes that the future Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) (the current agreement is set to expire this December), negotiations for which are at deadlock, be given its own separate energy plank. “The only way to achieve a formal agreement on energy, ratified by Russia, is to negotiate a new framework document in the context of the new PCA”, she stated, suggesting that elements of the Energy Charter could be transposed into this new document, as she feels that the current situation, characterised by the absence of any formal agreement, is “unacceptable”. Expressing her concern on “the nationalisation of resources which Russia seems to be practising at this moment in time, with the Russian state controlling all resources, including energy”, the INTA committee is calling on Moscow to offer fair and non-discriminatory treatment to foreign companies, allowing them to compete with Russian companies, in line with WTO rules. (eh)