JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
11.12.2006
- –Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Bernd Posselt, Vytautas Landsbergis and Tunne Kelam, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
- –Hannes Swoboda and Jan Marinus Wiersma, on behalf of the PSE Group
- –Paavo Väyrynen, on behalf of the ALDE Group
- –Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Hélène Flautre, Milan Horáček, Bart Staes, Rebecca Harms and Angelika Beer, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
- –Esko Seppänen, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
- –Konrad Szymański, Michał Tomasz Kamiński, Adam Jerzy Bielan, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, Ryszard Czarnecki, Inese Vaidere and Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis, on behalf of the UEN Group
- –Verts/ALE (B6‑0631/2006)
- –PPE-DE (B6‑0633/2006)
- –UEN (B6‑0636/2006)
- –GUE/NGL (B6‑0638/2006)
- –ALDE (B6‑0639/2006)
- –PSE (B6‑0641/2006)
European Parliament resolution on the EU-Russia Summit in Helsinki on 24 November 2006
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which entered into force in 1997 and expires in 2007,
– having regard to the EU-Russia Consultations on Human Rights,
– having regard to the current international and European responsibilities of Russia, in its capacity as President-in-Office of the G8 and Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe,
– having regard to the European Parliament's previous resolutions on Russia, and in particular its resolution of 25 October 2006 on EU-Russia relations following the murder of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, its resolution of 23 March 2006 on security of energy supply in the European Union and its resolution of 26 May 2005 on Russia,
– having regard to the outcome of the 18th EU-Russia Summit, held in Helsinki on 24 November 2006,
– having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas relations between the EU and Russia have been steadily growing over the past few years, leading to deep and comprehensive economic integration and interdependency, which is bound to increase even more in the near future,
B. whereas enhanced cooperation and good-neighbourly relations between the EU and Russia are of key importance to the stability, security and prosperity of the whole of Europe,
C. whereas the conclusion of a Strategic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation is of the greatest importance for this increased cooperation, in particular with regard to the further development of economic relations based on equality, transparency and respect for internationally recognised procedures, to the strengthening of security and stability in Europe by finding peaceful political solutions to regional conflicts in the joint neighbourhood, and to the further strengthening of respect for human rights, respect for the rule of law and a democratic framework as a basis for these relations,
D. whereas the rapid implementation of the four common areas, with a common economic area, an area of freedom, security and justice, an area of external security and an area of research, education and culture, should be at the heart of the negotiations on this new Strategic Partnership Agreement,
E. whereas security of energy supply is one of the biggest challenges for Europe and one of the major fields of cooperation with Russia, and whereas the EU imports approximately a quarter of its gas and oil from Russia and is the most reliable consumer of Russian exports,
F. whereas the 18th EU-Russia Summit in Helsinki was intended to mark the start of a new phase in EU-Russia relations and, in particular, to launch negotiations on a new framework agreement between the EU and Russia to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which expires in 2007,
G. whereas Poland has blocked the start of the negotiations on the new framework agreement, making the start of the negotiations conditional upon Moscow lifting a ban on Polish meat imports introduced a year ago,
H. whereas on 10 November Russia imposed a new embargo on imports of Polish meat and poultry products, saying that it was concerned about violations of veterinary regulations; whereas Russia has recently also imposed a ban on imports of fish and fish products from the EU; whereas ahead of the Summit Russia threatened to extend the ban to the whole of the EU over concerns about swine fever in Romania and Bulgaria,
I. whereas the recent killings of prominent opponents of the Russian Government have caused great concern in the whole of Europe,
J. whereas there is widespread concern in Russia, the European Union and elsewhere over democracy and human rights in Russia and the inability of the Russian police and judicial authorities to find those responsible for political murders,
K. whereas border-crossing formalities are very slow on the EU-Russian borders, causing intolerable queues of lorries at some checkpoints,
L. whereas the European Union should be able to unite its forces and speak with one voice in its relations with Russia,
1. Acknowledges the importance of Russia as a strategic partner for cooperation, with which the European Union shares not only economic and trade interests but also the objective of cooperating closely in the international arena as well as in the common neighbourhood;
2. Stresses the importance of unity and solidarity among the Member States of the European Union in its relations with Russia; welcomes, therefore, the common EU line established at the unofficial Lahti Summit, enabling the Union to speak with one voice at its meetings with President Vladimir Putin in Lahti and in Helsinki;
3. Regrets the failure of the Summit to launch negotiations on a new framework agreement between the EU and Russia and encourages the Finnish and German Presidencies to continue to work to enable the negotiating mandate for a new agreement to be adopted as soon as possible and to start negotiations without further delay;
4. Welcomes the open discussions on democracy and human rights at the two Summits; underlines, however, that the current situation in Russia gives rise to serious concern as regards respect for human rights, democracy, freedom of expression and the rights of civil society and individuals to challenge and hold the authorities accountable for their action;
5. Underlines that a robust defence of human rights and democratic values should be a core principle of any EU engagement with Russia; urges the Commission to send a clear signal to all parties involved that these values will not have a subsidiary status in the EU-Russia negotiating package;
6. Regrets that the fourth round of the EU-Russia human rights consultations has brought about no substantial progress in this field, which should be a priority in bilateral relations; calls therefore on the Russian Government to contribute to the intensification of the EU-Russia human rights consultations as an essential part of the EU-Russia partnership and to allow the free functioning of domestic and international human rights organisations and other NGOs and to protect the personal safety of human rights defenders;
7. Expresses its deep concern at the latest reports from international human rights organisations and UN experts about the use of torture in Russian prisons and police stations and in secret detention centres in Chechnya, which includes inhumane and degrading acts committed by public officials; strongly condemns such practices and calls on the Russian authorities to investigate the abuses, immediately put an end to any misconduct and prosecute the perpetrators;
8. Emphasises the need to work together with Russia as a necessary strategic partner to provide peace, stability and security and fight international terrorism and violent extremism, as well as addressing other security issues such as environmental and nuclear hazards, drugs, trafficking in arms and human beings and cross-border organised crime in the European neighbourhood in cooperation with the OSCE and other international fora;
9. Calls on the Commission and the Council to pursue joint initiatives with the Russian Government to strengthen democracy, security and stability in the common neighbourhood, in particular by means of joint activities to establish democracy and respect for basic human rights in Belarus and joint efforts to finally resolve the conflicts in Moldova, Georgia and Nagorno Karabakh; calls on the EU and Russia to assume their responsibility as members of the Quartet for the solution of the Middle East conflict and to promote the efforts to hold an international peace conference on a regional Middle East peace agreement;
10. Points out that progress towards signing and ratifying the outstanding border agreements between Estonia and Russia and Latvia and Russia remains a high priority for EU-Russia relations, and that the issue should be dealt with in a constructive and fair manner acceptable to all sides;
11. Deplores the disputes about the export of agricultural and fish products from the EU to Russia; is of the opinion that the continuation of these trade disputes seriously endangers the further development of relations between Russia and the European Union; therefore calls on the Commission and the Russian Government to resolve these outstanding trade disputes as a matter of urgency; insists that the European Union show the necessary solidarity with all Member States, in particular Poland, which is suffering discrimination under Russia's trade policy;
12. Expresses its deepest concern about the continuing series of murders of prominent persons, such as Anna Politkovskaya, who oppose the current Russian Government or who have stood up for the basic rights of Russian citizens; emphasises that the Council and Commission must react with all their authority and stresses that the partnership with Russia will seriously be affected if Russia fails to demonstrate its ability and strong willingness to assist in the investigations to find the killers and to fulfil its duty to stop this vicious circle and prosecute those responsible;
13. Welcomes the agreement reached at the Summit to phase out the fees Russia charges EU airlines flying over Siberia, resolving a 20-year dispute between the two sides and paving the way for EU carriers to increase routes to the growing markets in Asia; notes that the row over charges, which cost EU airlines more than €250 million a year, was one of the last hurdles the EU identified after its agreement with Russia on the country's entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which will open up new possibilities for increased cooperation and trade between the EU and Russia;
14. Welcomes the intensified EU-Russia dialogue on energy issues; underlines the strategic importance of cooperation on energy and the need to enhance EU-Russia energy relations; stresses that further cooperation in this field must be based on the principles of interdependence and transparency as well as the importance of reciprocity in terms of access to markets, infrastructure and investment, with the objective of avoiding oligopolistic market structures and diversifying the European Union's energy supply; in this context, calls on Russia to respect the principles of the Energy Charter Treaty and to increase cooperation on energy efficiency, energy saving and renewable energy;
15. Calls on the Council and Commission to redouble their efforts to solve the problems in border-crossing at the EU-Russian borders; points out that additional cross-border capacity must be built in order to accommodate an increase in the flow of goods; urges the Russian authorities to decrease queuing at the border by speeding up the inspections and by removing some of them from the border area to more remote locations;
16. Welcomes the successful outcome of the Northern Dimension Summit, which took place in connection with the EU-Russia Summit and in which Russia, as well as the EU, Norway and Iceland, participated; hopes that the Northern Dimension Framework Document which was adopted will provide a good basis for developing closer regional and cross-border cooperation with Russia;
17. Emphasises the need for the European Union to act with unity and determination in its efforts to strengthen relations with the Russian Federation; welcomes the intention of the German Presidency to give further high priority to this important issue;
18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States and of the Russian Federation.