EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 271/2

Thursday 12 November 2009

EU-Russia Summit on 18 November 2009 in Stockholm

P7_TA(2009)0064

European Parliament resolution of 12 November 2009 on the preparations for the EU-Russia Summit in Stockholm on 18 November 2009

2010/C 271 E/02

The European Parliament,

having regard to the existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Russian Federation, of the other part (1), and the negotiations initiated in 2008 on a new EU-Russia treaty,

having regard to the objective of the EU and Russia, set out in the joint statement issued following the 11th EU-Russia Summit held in St Petersburg on 31 May 2003, of setting up a common economic space, a common space of freedom, security and justice, a common space of cooperation in the field of external security and a common space of research and education, including cultural aspects (Four Common Spaces),

having regard to its previous reports and resolutions on Russia and on EU-Russia relations, in particular its resolution of 17 September 2009 on the murder of human rights activists in Russia (2), its resolution of 17 September 2009 on external aspects of energy security (3), and its resolution of 19 June 2008 on the EU-Russia Summit of 26-27 June 2008 in Khanty-Mansiysk (4),

having regard to the final statement and recommendations issued by the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee following its 11th meeting held in Brussels on 16-17 February 2009,

having regard to the outcome of the meeting of the EU-Russia Permanent Partnership Council held in Brussels on 19 October 2009,

having regard to the EU-Russia Human Rights Consultations,

having regard to the draft agenda for the forthcoming EU-Russia Summit in Stockholm on 18 November 2009,

having regard to Rule 110(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas relations between the EU and Russia have been steadily developing over the past decade, leading to deep and comprehensive economic integration and interdependence, which is bound to increase even more in the future,

B. whereas the conclusion of a new general cooperation agreement between the EU and Russia, the sixth round of negotiations for which took place in early October 2009, with the next round scheduled for mid-December 2009, remains of the utmost importance for the further development and intensification of cooperation between the two partners,

C. whereas the EU and Russia, which is a member of the UN Security Council, share a responsibility for maintaining global stability, and whereas enhanced cooperation and good-neighbourly relations between the EU and Russia are of particular importance for the stability, security and prosperity of Europe,

D. whereas the accession of Russia to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) would make a substantial contribution to the further improvement of economic relations between the EU and Russia, subject to a binding commitment on Russia's part to full compliance with and implementation of WTO commitments and obligations, and would pave the way for a deep and comprehensive economic integration agreement between the two partners, based on genuine reciprocity,

E. whereas security of energy supplies represents one of the biggest challenges facing Europe and one of the major areas of cooperation with Russia; whereas joint efforts are needed to make full and efficient use of energy transmission systems, both those which already exist and those to be further developed; whereas the recent decision by Russia to withdraw its signature from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) further complicates relations in this area and raises concerns regarding the ongoing energy dialogue and future developments; and whereas the EU's heavy dependence on fossil fuels imported from Russia risks undermining the development of a balanced, coherent and value-driven European approach to Russia,

F. whereas it is of the utmost importance for the EU to speak with one voice, show strong internal solidarity, adopt a common position and refrain from acceding to the Russian offers to step up bilateral relations with willing Member States; whereas the EU's relations with Russia should be based on mutual interests and common values,

G. whereas there is still serious concern about developments in Russia with regard to democracy, human rights, the independence of the judiciary, increased state control of the media, the inability of the police and judicial authorities to find those responsible for the murders of journalists and human rights defenders, the repressive measures taken against the opposition, the selective application of the law by the authorities and the fairness of elections, including the regional and local elections held on 11 October 2009; whereas the Russian Federation is a full member of the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and has therefore committed itself to the principles of democracy and respect for human rights; and whereas the European Parliament's 2009 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded to the Russian civil rights defence organisation Memorial and its representatives,

H. whereas the EU and Russia could and should together play an active role in establishing peace and stability on the European continent, in particular in the common neighbourhood, and work together to achieve a peaceful settlement under international law of the conflicts between Russia and Georgia and its breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia and those in Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria; whereas Russia should fully respect its neighbouring countries' right to political and economic self-determination,

I. whereas on 19 October 2009 Russia and the US resumed talks in Geneva on the drafting of a new agreement to succeed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), marking the first tangible step in the thaw in US-Russia relations announced by the Obama Administration; whereas on 23 October 2009 US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a news conference held following the NATO ministerial meeting in Bratislava that the Russian radar stations in Gabala and Armavir, which Russia was proposing for joint use, could prove a real asset to the overall missile defence system for Europe that the US is currently establishing, thereby opening up the prospect of the US, NATO and Russia becoming partners in building a joint missile defence system; and whereas from 18 September to 5 October 2009 Russia and Belarus held strategic manoeuvres which were consistent with the procedures laid down in the OSCE Vienna Document of 1999, but gave rise to serious concerns about their compliance with the spirit of good cooperation and mutual respect between Russia and the European Union,

1. Reaffirms its belief that Russia remains one of the European Union's most important partners in building sustainable cooperation, sharing not only economic and trade interests but also the objective of acting closely together at global level as well as in the common neighbourhood, on the basis of international law;

2. Notes that the Summit in Stockholm will focus on broad economic cooperation, particularly as regards the effects of the financial and economic crisis and methods to curb them, and on the preparations for the Copenhagen climate change conference in December 2009, energy and energy security aspects, the discussions on further visa liberalisation and progress in the negotiations for the new bilateral strengthened cooperation agreement, as well as tackling a range of international issues, such as Iran’s nuclear programme and the Middle East peace process;

3. Expresses its support for developing future relations with Russia in a pragmatic way, focusing on the ongoing cooperation based on the Four Common Spaces, the negotiations on a new general cooperation agreement and the implementation of commitments and agreements made so far; but reiterates its strong support for a new agreement going beyond purely economic cooperation and also encompassing the areas of democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human and fundamental rights;

4. Reiterates its support for the objective of Russia’s accession to the WTO, which will create a level playing field for the business communities on both sides and greatly help Russian efforts to build a modern, diversified, high-technology economy; calls on Russia to take the necessary steps to remove the remaining obstacles to the accession process, namely Russian export duties, the level of railway fees for goods in transit through Russia, road charges on goods vehicles and the restrictions on imports of meat, milk and plant products, following which the EU should open discussions on a free-trade agreement with the Russian Federation; looks forward to the implementation of more effective policies on several outstanding issues, such as intellectual property rights, radioactive waste, nuclear safety, work permits for EU citizens, etc.; stresses the need for the Russian authorities to ensure that no discriminatory practices whatsoever are employed vis-à-vis EU trading partners and investors and to reconsider the measures taken to tackle the economic crisis, in accordance with the undertaking given at the recent G20 Summit; deplores the fact that Russia is still not honouring its commitment to phase out Siberian overflight payments and calls on Russia to sign the agreement reached on this issue at the summit in Samara in 2007; welcomes, in this context, the recent decision by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan to abandon their attempt to join the WTO as a single customs union, which could have added years to the negotiations;

5. Notes with interest the ongoing dialogue between the European Union and Russia on further visa liberalisation; calls for further cooperation on illegal immigration, improved controls at cross-border checkpoints and information exchange on terrorism and organised crime; emphasises that the Council and Commission must ensure that Russia complies with all the conditions set out in any negotiated agreement on the abolition of visas for travel between the two sides, so as to prevent any breach of security in Europe; stresses, in this context, the importance of people-to-people contacts and their beneficial effect on the development of EU-Russia relations;

6. Calls on the Council and Commission to redouble their efforts to solve the problems at EU-Russia border crossings, to become involved in concrete projects and to make full use of the new Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument and funds of the Interreg Community Initiative for cross-border cooperation;

7. Looks forward to the signing between the European Union and Russia of an agreement on the establishment of an early-warning mechanism on energy security covering notification, consultation and implementation, and calls on the Swedish Presidency and on the Commission to work with the Russian authorities, Gazprom, the Ukrainian authorities and Naftohaz Ukrainy in order to avoid any repetition of the supply shut-offs that have occurred in recent years;

8. Underlines the mutual importance of energy cooperation for Russia and the EU, given that it represents a potential opportunity for further trade and economic cooperation between them; stresses that the principles of interdependence and transparency should form the basis of such cooperation, together with equal access to markets, infrastructure and investment; asks the Swedish Presidency, the Council and the Commission to use the Summit to point out clearly to the Russian side the increased internal energy solidarity measures the Union is taking and the long-term, mutually negative consequences which energy-supply problems might create; calls on Russia swiftly to incorporate international best practices on transparency and public accountability into national legislation and to sign the Espoo Convention of 1991 (on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context);

9. Calls on the Council and Commission to ensure that the principles of the ECT and the Transit Protocol annexed thereto are included in the new PCA between the EU and Russia;

10. Stresses that developing infrastructure links between the EU and the Russian Federation is mutually beneficial and therefore should be encouraged and based on minimising economic and environmental costs; strongly encourages Russia to adhere, in energy cooperation projects with the EU, to the fundamental principles formulated in the ECT;

11. Recognises that if we are to have a 50-50 chance of restricting climate change to +2 °C industrialised country emissions need to be reduced by at least 80-95 % by 2050 as against 1990 levels; underlines the specific responsibility of developed countries to take the lead in reducing emissions and considers that aggregate reductions by industrialised countries at the high end of the 25-40 % range recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) by 2020 are necessary; in this context, considers that all the industrialised countries need to adopt targets that require ambitious reductions from current emissions levels and calls on Russia to reconsider its request for a growing emissions target, in keeping with its large mitigation potential and the IPCC recommendations, with a view to facilitating a swift agreement in Copenhagen;

12. Stresses the need for Russia to lend its full support to binding post-Kyoto climate-change targets; calls on the Presidency, the Council and the Commission to work intensively with the Russian side in order to secure at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December 2009 an ambitious and comprehensive global agreement that will prevent global warming from reaching dangerous levels;

13. Underlines the importance of continuous exchanges of views on human rights with Russia as part of the EU-Russia Human Rights Consultations, with a focus on the steps taken by the Russian authorities with the aim of ensuring the safety of human rights defenders and media freedom, and calls for an improvement in the format of these meetings in order to enhance their effectiveness, with special attention being paid to joint action against racism and xenophobia, and for this process to be opened up to effective input from the European Parliament, the Duma and human rights NGOs, whether the dialogue takes place in Russia or in an EU Member State; insists that the safeguarding of human rights should be a key item on the agenda for the EU-Russia Summit and an integral part of the new EU-Russia cooperation agreement; reiterates its call to ensure that the murderers of Natalia Estemirova, Andrei Kulagin, Zarema Sadulayeva, Alik Dzhabrailov, Maksharip Aushev, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasiya Baburova and Anna Politkovskaya are found and brought to justice;

14. Urges the Council and Commission to pay the utmost attention to the ongoing second trial of former Yukos Oil chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which is already replete with severe due process violations; calls on the Russian authorities to combat arbitrariness, to respect the rule of law and not to use the judiciary as a political tool;

15. Condemns the brutal assassination of Maksharip Aushev, a popular human rights activist and opposition figure who was shot dead in Ingushetia; calls in particular on the Russian authorities to adopt preventive protective measures as regards human rights defenders, such as starting investigations as soon as threats faced by them are known to the prosecutor and the judicial system;

16. Calls on the Russian authorities to comply with all the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and to ratify the protocol on the reform of this body as soon as possible; looks to the Duma to ratify Additional Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights;

17. Calls on the Swedish Presidency, the Council and the Commission to use the Summit to clearly express the EU’s concern on a range of international issues where Russia's constructive cooperation is crucial, due to its position in international politics, and on the need for increased cooperation in dealing with Iran, Afghanistan, the Middle East and other crucial issues on the international agenda;

18. Calls on the Council and Commission to pursue joint initiatives with the Russian Government aimed at strengthening security and stability in the world and, in particular, in the common neighbourhood and at achieving a peaceful settlement under international law of the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria and, above all, that between Russia and Georgia and its breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia;

19. Welcomes, in this context, the achievements of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), which has demonstrated the EU's willingness and ability to act resolutely to promote peace and stability and helped to create the necessary conditions for the implementation of the ceasefire agreements of 12 August and 8 September 2008; reiterates its commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity and calls on all the parties fully to honour their commitments; points out that EUMM has a country-wide mandate and calls for it to be granted unhindered access to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which it has so far been denied; reaffirms its full commitment to the Geneva talks and the continued co-chairmanship of this forum by the EU, the UN and the OSCE;

20. Calls on the EU and Russia to continue their efforts to achieve progress in the Middle East peace process and to find a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, particularly following the understanding – reached at Geneva on 1 October 2009 between Iran and the US, Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain – on the fuel plan and the UN monitoring of the newly disclosed enrichment site under construction;

21. Is very concerned about the ramifications for international security following the Duma's adoption of amendments to the law ‘On Defence’ submitted by the President of Russia, which state that Russia can use military force in operations outside its borders for the purposes of countering an attack against Russian forces or other troops deployed beyond Russia’s borders, to counter or prevent aggression against another country or to protect Russian citizens abroad, the latter being particularly controversial when Russia is pursuing a policy of illegally issuing passports in frozen conflict territories and in Ukraine’s Crimea;

22. Calls on the Presidency to express the EU's support for the talks between Russia and the US on a new agreement to succeed START and for the initiatives aimed at building a joint missile defence system between the US, Russia and NATO; expresses its optimism that a START deal might be reached by the end of 2009;

23. Urges the Governments of both the US and Russia to fully involve the European Union and its Member States in the discussions concerning developments on the missile defence shield, including missile risk evaluation, contributing in this way to peace and stability in the world and particularly in Europe;

24. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation, the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

(1) OJ L 327, 28.11.1997, p. 1.

(2) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2009)0022.

(3) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2009)0021.

(4) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2008)0309.