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EU, Russia sign deal in bid to end disputes

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Published 11 May 2005 - Updated 29 June 2007
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The EU and Russia concluded a landmark agreement on 10 May with a view to building a "Europe without dividing lines". However, some tensions persist.

The framework four 'road maps' agreement that was signed during the summit aims to deepen co-operation across a broad range of areas - known in EU-speak as 'spaces' - despite the fact that the ambitions codified in it still need to be translated into specific steps. At the same time, the Moscow summit was a clear departure from the acrimonious relationship that marked the previous year's summit in the Netherlands.

Areas of continuing contention remain. One concerns the visa regime between the EU and Russia. Moscow has been pressing for visa-free travel rights for its citizens, but the EU will agree to this only in exchange for a Russian consent to take back all those people who have entered the EU from Russia illegally. "Russia must agree to take back all migrants who enter the European Union from Russian territory illegally if the EU is to ease visa rules for Russian citizens," said Commission President Barroso. Russian President Putin said he believed that it was "wrong to tie easing the entrance visa regime with readmission". Nevertheless, the sides agreed to continue negotiations on these issues. 

The EU has also been pressing for Moscow to phase out overflight charges that western European airlines have to pay when crossing Siberia en route to Japan and China. The EU insists that such charges are unjustified. It appears that the charges will not be eliminated before 2013.

The agreement obliges both sides to support the efforts in the international scene of organisations such as the United Nations and the Council of Europe. It also places emphasis on the treatment of minorities.

The sides also made headway in addressing the "frozen conflicts in countries that used to be part of the Soviet empire: Trans-Dniester in Moldova, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

However, the issue of Russia's border delineation agreement with its Baltic neighbours has yet to be resolved. "We are ready to sign an agreement on borders [...] with Estonia and Latvia. We hope they will not be accompanied by idiotic - in terms of their content - demands of a territorial nature," said Putin. He brushed aside calls to reopen the debate, arguing that it was time to put historic grievances to rest. 

Positions: 

"Russia is the most important neighbour we have and we respect it enormously and we want constructive relations in all spheres," said Commission President José Manuel Barroso prior to the summit meeting.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the agreement amounts to a big step towards the creation of a Europe free of barriers. "We want a Europe without dividing lines," said Putin.

"There was a good atmosphere, as if we were speaking among friends," commented External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg: "We leave with the firm conviction that [...] President Putin is a friend of Europe. It is not necessary to agree on everything but to know that we work on a basis of common conviction." He said that "Russia and the European Union are not yet on their honeymoon, but it is true love".

"It will take 10 to 15 years to make concrete changes [based on the agreement]," Dmitry Trenin, deputy director of the Moscow Carnegie Center, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. "[The deal sealed on 10 May] is more of a detailed explanation of intention."

"During the summit diplomatic talk buried any discussions about concrete steps", commented Pavel Erochkine of the London-based Centre for Global Studies to EurActiv. "For example, today there are more obstacles to the movement of people between the EU and Russia than there were a few years ago and the only way to make any serious movement towards is to scrap the principle of reciprocity, which basically means that any lowering of barriers has be simultaneously enacted (and therefore agreed) by both sides. The benefits of freer movement of people between Russia and the EU are enormous, especially to Russia, which, therefore, should adopt a stepped approach to visa elimination". 

According to Erochkine, "Russia should boldly proclaim the goal of visa-free travel in the 'common economic space', and start the process off with a large unilateral concession, which invites (or shames) the EU into offering something in return. If no answering gesture occurs, the process can stop at that point, or, if the Russian authorities are persuaded that it is in Russia's interest, they can carry it further to put more pressure on the EU". In Erochkine's view, "the precise nature of the concession is less important than the need to start the ball rolling". 

Regarding the issue of energy relations, "a similar approach could work but the initiative should come from the EU, which is heavily dependent on Russia's energy". According to Erochkine, "the best the EU can do is to encourage its private and state-controlled companies to invest in Russia's vast natural resources before the Chinese and East Asians do".

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Background: 

The underlying aim of the non-binding agreement that was reached at the 15th EU-Russia summit in Moscow is to create a single EU-Russian market without barriers to trade. The agreement foresees increased co-operation in the fields of financial services, transport, telecommunications, energy and the environment whilst also encompassing security and humanitarian issues. 

One key consideration for the EU is that Russia is a major energy supplier for the member states. Russia's Gazprom supplies around 25% of the EU's natural gas needs, and the EU buys 85% of Russia's oil exports. Russia, in turn, is eager to boost the volume of investment from the 25 member states.

Overall, Russia is the EU's fifth largest trading partner - after the US, Switzerland, China and Japan. Bilateral trade totalled 96.5 billion euros in 2004. The EU's main imports from Russia are energy, agricultural goods and chemicals. In turn, the EU exports to Russia mainly machinery, chemicals, agricultural goods, transport materials and textiles.

The central plank of the EU's trade relationship with Russia is the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA), which was signed in 1994 and which entered into force in 1997. In April 2004, Moscow extended the PCA to the EU's ten new member states.

In June 1999, the EU adopted its Common Strategy on Russia, which among other things envisioned the country's integration into a common European economic and social space.

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