Brussels, 10/03/2009 (Agence Europe) - During negotiations on the new framework agreement for partnership with Russia (in progress since July 2008), the EU is expected to put pressure on Moscow to waive the many restrictions imposed on Russian civil society and to respect freedom of expression and association, the European Parliament foreign affairs committee states in a report adopted in Strasbourg on 9 March (35 votes for, 16 against). Intimidation and harassment against human rights activists must stop, the MEPs say in the report drafted by Janusz Onyszkiewicz (ALDE, Poland). Regular EU/Russia consultations on human rights, introduced in 2005, have so far not produced any concrete results and should therefore be revised, they say (this important point was added to the report following adoption of an amendment suggested by Marie Anne Isler Béguin - Greens, France). Renewal of the partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) with Russia should also provide an occasion to strengthen security of Russian gas supplies, MEPs say. The principles of the Energy Charter (signed but not ratified by Moscow) and the memorandum of understanding on transit should therefore be integrated into the new cooperation agreement, they stress (see related article above). A plenary vote on the report is scheduled for early April. (H.B./transl.jl)