IP/09/1724
Brussels, 17 November 2009
EU-Russia Summit on 18 November in Stockholm
The response to the financial and economic crisis as well as climate change will be the central themes for discussion at the EU-Russia Summit on 18 November in Stockholm. Just weeks before the Copenhagen conference on climate change, leaders will explore how to best coordinate their actions in order to achieve an ambitious and comprehensive global deal. Energy security figures high on the agenda – at the Summit the leaders will endorse an enhanced Early Warning Mechanism. The Summit will address international foreign policy issues like Afghanistan/Pakistan, non-proliferation, Iran, the Corfu Process and frozen conflicts in the Common Neighbourhood as well as bilateral issues including the state of play in the negotiations on a New Agreement between the EU and Russia. A meeting of the Industrialists' Round Table will take place immediately after the Summit. The European Commission’s delegation is led by President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, accompanied by Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Commissioner for Trade, Baroness Catherine Ashton.
On the eve of the Summit, President José Manuel Barroso noted: "There are many issues on the global agenda today that neither EU nor Russia can address alone – such as climate change, and the financial and economic crisis. So, we have a joint responsibility to coordinate our efforts to revive the global economy, implement the decisions of the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh and finally to achieve an ambitious and comprehensive global deal at the Copenhagen Conference in December."
The plenary session is likely to focus on climate change and responses to the global financial and economic crisis as well as EU-Russia bilateral co-operation under the common spaces. As Russia's most important trading partner, the EU continues to strongly support Russia’s accession to the WTO, and will be looking for further clarification by the Russian side concerning the next steps in the ongoing accession process. Another important issue to be discussed are the conditions concerning bilateral trade from 1 January 2010 under the new Common External Tariff system of the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
Energy is at the centre of the economic and trading relations between the EU and Russia. At the Summit, the leaders will welcome the agreement signed between Commissioner Piebalgs and Russian Energy Minister Shmatko on an enhanced Early Warning Mechanism - a working arrangement which contains practical arrangements between the EU and Russia to prevent or rapidly react to an emergency situation threatening energy supplies to the EU.
The Summit is also expected to take stock of progress in the New Agreement negotiations. From the outset of the negotiations, leaders have agreed that the New Agreement should not only reflect the development of EU-Russia relations over the past 15 years, but also provide a strong legal basis for a substantial enhancement of EU-Russia relations in the future. It will also confirm the common commitments to respect for human rights and democracy that the EU and Russia have entered into at the UN, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe.
Leaders will also discuss a number of international issues, including Afghanistan/Pakistan, non-proliferation, Iran, the Corfu Process as well as the situation in the Southern Caucasus and the Western Balkans.
More information:
http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/russia/intro/index.htm