Brussels, 01/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - Current negotiations between the EU and Russia on a new enhanced partnership agreement to succeed the present partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) are difficult and no timetable for conclusion should be forced on them, with defence of EU interests the sole concern, said External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, addressing the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday 1 April. At the same time as the fourth meeting on the new agreement was taking place in Moscow between European and Russian negotiators, she spoke of “deep differences” on several points of the agreement. The Russians are very ambitious, for example, in terms of extending foreign and security policy cooperation, but are less keen on legally binding rules on the economy and trade in the future agreement, Ferrero-Waldner told MEPs. Russian reservations are most clearly apparent in the area of energy. The EU is demanding that the principles of the Energy Charter (which Russia has ratified) form part of the agreement “in order to place our (energy) relations on a stable and predictable legal basis,” she said. Moscow, however, rejects this and is proposing a new international agreement to replace the Charter.
As a result of these differences, negotiations on the post-PCA agreement could take longer than expected. This matters little, said Ferrero-Waldner: the EU must not let itself be drawn into an “artificial timetable” but should defend its interests “firmly and in a targeted manner”. This is all the more the case since the current PCA will remain in force until such time as the new agreement is ready. The Czech Presidency has warned that “the negotiations could take some time”. “But we should not be discouraged if we move only slowly,” said Alexandr Vondra, who currently chairs the General Affairs Council. It is the substance that matters. “The new agreement must bring an improvement on the current PCA,” Vondra stated. MEPs then debated the report by Polish MEP Janusz Onyszkiewicz on Russia. The vote on this report will be held on Thursday. (H.B./transl.rt)