Putin ready to do business at summit

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 04/05/05

Next week's EU-Russia summit in Moscow (10 May) is supposed to revive EU-Russian relations after two years of paralysis.

In May 2003 the EU and Russia announced that they would thrash out an agreement to move relations forward to a new phase. Two years and one failed summit later, the EU and Russia have yet to conclude that 'common spaces' agreement.

Against the backdrop of the upheaval in Ukraine, last November's EU-Russia summit in The Hague was a failure. Next week the EU and Russia will try again to secure a deal.

World leaders congregate in Moscow the day before the summit for 'Victory Day' to mark the defeat of Hitler 60 years ago. Against that backdrop, the Russian government now appears keen to secure agreement and it seems unlikely that the EU's representatives will leave Moscow empty-handed.

The fact that the defeat of Nazism signalled the beginning of Stalin's occupation of the Baltic states, makes it all the more desirable for the two sides to agree.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his diplomats to "do everything that depends on [Russia] so that the documents that are being prepared for the summit be ready for signing".

But the four-part agreement, with economic, foreign policy, home affairs and cultural elements, is still proving extremely difficult.

On economics, the issue of Siberian overflights remains contentious. Brussels is looking to end the system that sees European commercial carriers and cargo companies pay royalties of around €250 million to Russian flag carrier Aeroflot for passing over Siberian airspace.

EU carriers say the cost prohibits cheaper flights to East Asia destinations such as China and puts companies at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis their Russian counterparts.

In recent discussions over Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, the Commission thought it had agreed a deal with Moscow, phasing out dual pricing by 2013.

But the issue remains unresolved, with Russia apparently unwilling formally to commit to reduce the charges.

For its part Moscow remains concerned about European rules on airline noise and safety standards.

For Russians, one issue is of pre-eminent importance: visas.

Putin has lobbied vociferously for certain groups, and eventually all citizens, to be able to travel visa-free to the EU.

It has proven to be an emotive issue. One senior Russian minister described the hoops that Russian citizens have to jump through to get to the EU as "humiliating".

The Commission says that it wants to make it easier for Russians to travel to the EU, promoting people-to-people links and tapping lucrative tourist roubles - the World Tourism Organization places Russians among the world's highest spenders on holiday.

But before it makes access easier, the EU wants Russia to sign a readmission agreement, allowing the EU to send back illegal migrants arriving in the Union from Russia.

More than 200,000 Russian tourists visit Spain each year. The Finnish government estimates that there are the same number of illegal migrants in Russia, predominantly from Central and Southern Asia who want to move further west.

Moscow is wary about accepting responsibility for the many migrants arriving in the EU via Russia and the substantial financial implications.

Brussels diplomats hope that the high statesmanship of the events in Moscow will create enough impetus for these disputes to be resolved. But with continued tension over the EU's enlargement and recent events in Ukraine and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, more deadlock is not impossible.

Preview of EU-Russia Summit on 10 May 2005 where an agreement is expected on the 'Four common spaces' between the EU and Russia, covering economic, foreign policy, home affairs and cultural elements. This agreement was thought to be able to revive EU-Russian relations after two years of paralysis. In May 2003 the EU and Russia had announced that they would thrash out an agreement to move relations forward to a new phase.

European Commission: DG External Relations: Countries: Russia: EU-Russia Summits: 10 May 2005 http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/russia/summit_05_05/index.htm

---