Brussels, 04/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - Three months after the gas crisis, Europeans and Russians met at ministerial level in Moscow on Thursday 30 April to prepare for the EU-Russia summit of 21-22 May in Khabarovsk and to seek to restore the confidence shattered by the interruption to supply, last January, of Russian gas transiting via Ukraine. Evaluating recent developments in energy dialogue and cooperation between the EU and Russia, the fourth meeting of the Permanent Partnership Council (PPC), which was attended by, on the European side, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, the Czech Industry Minister Martin Riman and the Swedish Energy Minister Maud Olofsson, and, on the Russian side, the Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and the energy minister Sergueï Chmakto, nonetheless failed to iron out differences of opinions.
"Reinforcing confidence between the EU and Russia, based on strong legal frameworks, is crucial. While negotiations on a new EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement are already underway we also need to achieve progress in the short term. There are a number of ongoing initiatives, such as the Early Warning Mechanism, that should be enhanced and made more operational in terms of follow-up and preventing crises in future", Mr Piebalgs stressed in the press release published after the meeting. According to the European Commission, the meeting allowed those taking part to improve their mutual understanding of the development of bilateral energy relations in the near future, taking account of, amongst other things, the impact of the financial crisis on the European and Russian energy sectors. The two sides also assessed the progress in the work of the three thematic EU-Russia dialogue groups (strategies and scenarios, development of the market and energy efficiency), that of the work on the early warning mechanism for problems with supply, and progress in bilateral cooperation at the G8 and at the IEA. The partners also validated the reference terms for the control of flows of Russian gas destined for the EU and transiting via Ukraine.
However, this superficial process on energy cooperation is not enough to disguise the sizeable disagreements over crucial issues, such as the Energy Charter, which Moscow is still refusing to ratify. Speaking to the press after the meeting, Mr Piebalgs ruled out any question of replacing the current Charter, which is designed to provide a framework for energy conflicts between the countries, with the new text recently proposed by the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev (EUROPE 9886). "No. The Energy Charter has been ratified. The Treaty will continue to live its life until all of the countries which created it decide otherwise. This is not the case", he insisted. The Russian document, which has been proposed to the G20, the EU and the countries of the former USSR, is a "new proposal which, on the basis of the experience of the Energy Charter, is more ambitious. It is open to all countries, is more global and deals with other issues, but it is not a replacement for the Charter", he stressed, whilst acknowledging that the current Charter "maybe needed to be modernised". "Russia has put a conceptual approach onto paper, based on its own experience on the global energy market, as a major energy power. We want to be certain that when we make investment decisions which will run over several decades, the security of our supply to the rest of the world over this period is guaranteed", stressed Mr Chmatko. It is worth noting that the document put forward by Moscow is a legally binding international instrument, which would cover all of the major energy producing and exporting countries, consumer and importing countries and transit countries; it would include all forms of energy competition and render the parties to it liable for any losses which may arise due to a failure to respect the transit obligations specified in the Treaty.
Lastly despite Mr Piebalgs's assurances to Moscow regarding the declaration which was signed between the EU and Ukraine at the end of March on the modernisation of the Ukrainian gas transit system, which caused a furious reaction in Moscow, Mr Setchin and Mr Chmatko laid emphasis on the risks entailed in the transit of Russian gas to Europe via the territory of other countries. Having given assurances that Moscow was prepared to make a financial contribution to the functioning of the Ukrainian transit system, Mr Setchin urged all those involved in the transport of hydrocarbons to show responsibility. Amongst other things, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister spoke of the risks for hydrocarbon deliveries related to the exploitation, in a direct sense, of the Odessa-Brody pipeline, which is the subject of the Sarmatia project for energy cooperation between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, aiming to make these countries more independent of Russian energy (EUROPE 9521). (E.H./transl.fl)