Hot summer for EU-Russia relations

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 30/06/05

Last May in Moscow, amid much fanfare, the EU and Russia agreed to a document which set out a host of areas for new and strengthened co-operation.

Originally conceived as an agreement that would establish common 'spaces' of co-operation on economy, security, freedom, justice, culture, education, research and external security, tough negotiations meant the deal was substantially watered down, not only in substance but also in form.

Controversial issues such as visas for Russian citizens, which will be dealt with at talks on 12-13 July, and transit to and from Russia's Baltic enclave, Kaliningrad, were left for later.

Instead of the agreement establishing the common spaces, the two sides adopted more vague 'road maps' on how to get there. After the dramatic downturn in relations that followed the Russian, Ukrainian and Georgian elections, this was still hailed as an "important step towards creating a Europe without dividing lines".

But the shift, although subtle, means that the real work will only begin now, with talks about implementing the agreements.

With around 420 actions identified there is much work to be done.

At a recent meeting in Brussels, member states' representatives were presented with a shopping list of things that the EU should advance, ahead of the next EU-Russia summit in October, which will see a review of how far implementation has gone.

In the external security space alone 41 issues were listed as priorities for the short and medium term, from co-operation on reform of the United Nations Security Council to non-proliferation or collaboration in the fight against terrorism.

Ahead of the October summit in London, Commission officials say some 13-15 priorities have been identified for the economic space and four to five in each of the other three spaces.

Although both sides will be looking to present some tangible progress by the time of the summit, some officials are warning against being overly ambitious. "Time is short and we have to be realistic," says one.

The process is not helped by the fact that for many of these issues the road map does not serve as much of a map at all.

One such issue is the vexed question on EU-Russia joint crisis management operations, which is made topical by moves to resolve the frozen conflicts dotted around what Moscow calls its "near abroad", what Brussels calls "the European neighbourhood" and what both grudgingly agreed to call "regions adjacent to EU and Russian borders".

The road map paints the issue with broad brush strokes, highlighting objectives to "strengthen co-operation and dialogue on security and crisis management in order to address the global and regional challenges and key threats of today". But it gives few hints as to how to proceed beyond exchanging views at expert level, which - according to the road map - "could lead to the development of principles and modalities for joint approaches in crisis management". The legal and financial details have still to be worked out. Questions remain about the possibility of Russia leading missions and over who will foot the bill.

Some member states such as Estonia, Poland, Germany, Denmark and Lithuania, while happy for Russia to join EU peacekeeping missions, are bristling at the thought of being under Russian command during an operation.

"The Union cannot accept that idea. I can't imagine the EU participating in a Russian mission," says one diplomat incredulously. "How would that look?"

For other sensitive issues, such as Kaliningrad, the so-called constructive ambiguity which allowed both sides to agree to the deal in the first place continues to allow them to read the agreement differently. Russia continues to concentrate on transit issues while some EU member states would like the focus to fall on economic integration.

How much the two sides talk past each other we will know in October.

Article takes a look at the implementation of the ambitious agenda agreed in 2004 between the EU and Russia to deepen their co-operation.