EU en Rusland hopen een visa-akkoord te bereiken (en)

The EU and Russia aim to make progress with visa exemption negotiations and sign a new framework agreement at the summit with is being held this Monday and Tuesday in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, the first such summit since the Treaty of Lisbon came into effect.

This is the first occasion in the wake of the Treaty of Lisbon on which the Kremlin head, Dmitry Medvedev i, has received the new leaders of the twenty-seven Member States, the President of the Council of the EU, Herman Van Rompuy i, and the head of European diplomacy, Catherine Ashton i.

Apart from Mr Van Rompuy and Ms Ashton, the EU is represented by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso i, and the European Commissioner for Trade, Karel de Gught i; while on the Russian side, the Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, and the Minister for Economic Development, Elvira Nabiullina, are taking part.

Key issues at the summit

At the plenary session on Tuesday the global financial crisis will be tackled and the EU will contend that the crisis must not be used as a pretext for adopting unilateral protectionist measures, such as those recently adopted by Russia. Brussels reckons to have lost 600 million euros as a result of the increase in customs duties.

In the area of climate change, the EU and Russia hope to improve cooperation in the wake of the Copenhagen summit and address how to get international negotiations going again.

With regard to energy and security, the EU hopes that Russia will take part in the revision of the Energy Community Treaty, which has not yet been ratified, and Brussels reiterates the importance of ensuring the modernisation of the Ukranian gas network, something in which Russia, the Ukraine and the EU have an interest.

On bilateral matters, the Partnership for Modernisation could become the main issue at the summit, since it offers a new and clear signal for working in key areas. Brussels stresses that modernisation does not refer exclusively to industry, but also to the development of society, and it will need to have a special role with regard to justice and democracy.

For his part, talking to the press, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Grushko, stressed the importance which both sides attach to launching a new modernisation programme, which is line with the plan launched by the Kremlin to attract technological innovation to Russia.

Alexander Grushko, emphasised that one of the issues which will take up the summit's agenda will be 'drawing up the framework agreement which must replace the current association and cooperation agreement'.

'Broadly speaking, the backbone of the agreement is already in place. We have reached a consensus on certain articles. The most progress has been made with regard to justice and home affairs matters, where we are 90 per cent in agreement', he added.

There has also been progress with carrying out the project regarding the four areas of cooperation: the economy; freedom, security and justice; external security;scientific research and education.

The EU and Russia expect to sign a classified information protection agreement in Rostov, while Brussels has expressed its intention of financing programmes to reform the judicial system and combat corruption in Russia.

A summit with an economic slant

The summit will have a distinctly economic slant and the need to coordinate strategies for coming out of the crisis will be discussed.

The EU's trade deficit in relation to Russia was cut by 32 per cent last year to stand at 49.7 million euros, owing to the fall in fuel prices.

Russia, which is Europe's third most important trading partner after China and the United States, represents 6% of the EU's exports and 10% of its imports.