Joint motion for a resolution - RC-B6-0190/2007/REV1Joint motion for a resolution
RC-B6-0190/2007/REV1

JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

8.5.2007

pursuant to Rule 103(4) of the Rules of Procedure, by
replacing the motions by the following groups: on the EU-Russia Summit to be held in Samara on 18 May 2007

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RC-B6-0190/2007

European Parliament resolution on the EU-Russia Summit to be held in Samara on 18 May 2007

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States and the Russian Federation, which entered into force in 1997 and expires in 2007,

–  having regard to the objective of the EU and Russia, set out in the joint statement issued following the St Petersburg Summit held on 31 May 2003, to set up a common economic space, a common space of freedom, security and justice, a common space of cooperation in the field of external security and a common space of research and education, including cultural aspects,

–  having regard to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its five protocols,

–  having regard to the EU-Russia human rights dialogue,

–  having regard to the public statement concerning the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation made on 13 March 2007 by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of the Council of Europe,

–  having regard to the EU Presidency Statement of 2 May 2007 on the situation in front of the Estonian embassy in Moscow,

–  having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Council and the European Parliament of 10 January 2007 entitled 'An Energy Policy for Europe' (COM(2007)0001),

–  having regard to its resolution of 23 March 2006 on security of energy supply in the European Union[1],

–  having regard to its previous resolutions on Russia, and in particular

  • -its resolution of 26 April 2007 on the recent repression of demonstrations in Russia[2],
  • -its resolution of 13 December 2006 on the EU-Russia Summit in Helsinki[3],
  • -its resolution of 25 October 2006 on EU-Russia relations following the murder of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya[4],
  • -its resolution of 15 June 2006 on the EU-Russia Summit in Sochi[5],
  • -its resolution of 19 January 2006 on Chechnya[6],
  • -its resolution of 15 December 2005 on human rights in Russia and the new NGO legislation[7]
  • -and its resolution of 26 May 2005 on EU-Russia relations[8],

–  having regard to the 19th EU-Russia Summit, to be held in Samara on 18 May 2007,

–  having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas relations between the EU and Russia have been steadily developing 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 and its neighbour states,

C.  whereas the Russian Federation is a Member of the Council of Europe and thus has committed itself to the objectives of the Council, which are to promote democracy and consolidate democratic stability in Europe,

D.  whereas there is widespread concern over democracy and human rights in Russia, over the independence of the judiciary, as exemplified by the Yukos case, over increased control of the media, over the inability of the Russian police and judicial authorities to find those responsible for murders of journalists and over repressive measures taken against the opposition,

E.  whereas serious human rights violations in the form of murder, enforced disappearance, torture, hostage-taking and arbitrary detention are still occurring in the Chechen Republic,

F.  whereas so far the EU-Russia human rights consultations have not brought about any substantial progress in this field, which should be a priority in EU-Russia relations,

G.  whereas the rapid and full implementation of all four common spaces, with a common economic space, a space of freedom, security and justice, a space of external security and a space of research, education and culture, should be at the heart of the negotiations on the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement,

H.  whereas the underlying principles governing economic and trade relations between the EU and the Russian Federation should be reciprocity, transparency, predictability, reliability, non-discrimination and good governance,

I.  whereas a future agreement between the EU and the Russian Federation should include principles of the Energy Charter Treaty aimed at reinvigorating ties and should ease European worries that Russia is using its vast energy resources as a political weapon,

J.  whereas on 19 April the Justice and Home Affairs Council approved the conclusion of two agreements on visa facilitation and readmission of illegal immigrants and talks were opened on 22 April on achieving visa-free travel, signalling concrete progress on the common space of freedom, security and justice,

K.  whereas Russia has signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol,

L.  whereas the conclusion of a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the Russian Federation is of the utmost importance for their future cooperation, in particular with regard to the further development of economic relations, to the further enhancement of security and stability in Europe and to the further strengthening of respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law as the basis of this cooperation,

M.  whereas the start of the negotiations on the new framework agreement has been delayed and made conditional upon Moscow lifting a ban on Polish imports introduced in 2005; whereas efforts are being made by the EU to find a compromise on the Polish meat imports to end this political impasse,

N.  whereas, following recent events in Estonia, the normal functioning of the Estonian embassy in Moscow has been blocked and several of its diplomats, including the head of the mission, have been physically attacked by demonstrators surrounding the embassy and burning the Estonian flag,

O.  whereas no substantial progress has been made as regards the solution of the 'frozen conflicts' in common neighbouring countries; whereas peace and stability are in the interests of both Russia and the EU,

P.  whereas it is important that the EU speaks with one voice, shows solidarity and displays unity in its relations with the Russian Federation and bases these relations on mutual interests and common values,

1.  Reconfirms its conviction that Russia remains an important partner for the purpose of building strategic cooperation, with which the EU 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 strengthening unity and solidarity among the EU Member States in their relations with Russia; welcomes, therefore, the common line taken by the EU in the negotiations with Moscow on the lifting of Russia's ban on Polish meat exports;

3.  Regrets the breakdown of these negotiations and the subsequent failure to launch negotiations on a new framework agreement between the EU and Russia and encourages the German Presidency 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.  Calls on the European Union to demonstrate solidarity with Estonia in the context of recent events in Tallinn; calls on Russia to fully respect its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations by guaranteeing protection of foreign diplomats and normal functioning of foreign embassies;

5.  Welcomes the continuous exchange of views on human rights in Russia as part of the EU-Russia Human Rights Consultations; emphasises, however, that the current situation in Russia gives rise to serious concern in terms of respect for human rights, democracy, freedom of expression and the rights of civil society and individuals to challenge authorities and hold them accountable for their actions;

6.  Reiterates its view 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 ensure that these values do not have a subsidiary status in the EU-Russia negotiating package and that any financial assistance granted to the Russian authorities takes into consideration the strengthening of democratic standards in that country;

7.   Expresses its deep concern about the use of force by the Russian authorities against peaceful anti-government demonstrators in Moscow and St Petersburg over the past few weeks; stresses that freedom of speech and the right of assembly are fundamental human rights and that, therefore, a continuation of this tendency will be in violation of their international obligations;

8.  Expresses its deep concern at the continuing reports from Russian and international human rights organisations about the use of torture and the commission of inhumane and degrading acts in prisons, police stations and secret detention centres in Chechnya, strongly condemns such practices and calls on the Russian authorities to ensure that the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Russia is a signatory, are fully respected in the Chechen Republic and that all those who violate those rights are brought to justice; underlines in this regard that the Russian Government has rejected the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Torture of October 2006 who planned to visit prisons in North Caucasus without prior notice;

9.  Expresses its concern about social and political polarisation and the restriction of democratic freedoms in the run-up to the Duma elections in December 2007 and the presidential elections in March 2008; calls on the Russian authorities to guarantee a free and fair process for both elections in order to ensure that the opposition parties have the opportunity to campaign, and to abide by the principle of freedom of expression; stresses that freedom of the media will be of key importance if the elections are to be seen as free and fair; underlines the importance of NGOs independent of national governments for the development of civil society;

10.  Emphasises the need to work together with Russia as a necessary and important partner to ensure peace, stability and security and fight international terrorism and violent extremism, as well as address 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;

11.  Calls on the Commission and the Council to pursue joint initiatives with the Russian Government to strengthen security and stability in the common neighbourhood, in particular by means of enhanced dialogue over Ukraine and Belarus and joint efforts to finally resolve the frozen conflicts in Nagorno Karabakh as well as in Moldova and Georgia by guaranteeing the full territorial integrity of those states;

12.  Calls on the EU and Russia as a member of the UN Security Council to assume their responsibility for the Iranian nuclear issue;

13.  Calls on the EU and Russia as members of the Quartet to assume their responsibility for the resolution of the Middle East conflict and to promote efforts to hold an international peace conference on a regional Middle East peace; calls further on Russia as a member of the Contact Group and the UN Security Council to cooperate in finding a lasting solution to the Kosovo question and as a member of the Six Party Talks to help find a solution to nuclear proliferation in North Korea;

14.  Notes that the European Neighbourhood Policy already presents a number of opportunities for multilateral cooperation; calls for the setting up of an EU-Black Sea Community, along the lines of the Northern Dimension, to enhance and encourage more dialogue for a more stable, secure and democratic neighbourhood;

15.  Welcomes the progress concerning the Latvia-Russia border agreement but underlines that further progress must be made to secure ratification and implementation of the border agreement between Russia and Estonia as soon as possible;

16.  Reiterates its support for Russian membership of the WTO, which will help Russia to come to terms with the rules on the global market; believes that WTO accession should lead to deeper economic integration between the EU and Russia;

17.  Reiterates furthermore the importance of setting up the Common Economic Space (CES) and further developing the objectives agreed upon in the CES Road Map, especially as regards the creation of an open and integrated market between the EU and Russia;

18.  Stresses the importance of improving the investment climate in Russia, which can only be achieved by promoting and facilitating non-discriminatory and transparent business conditions, less bureaucracy and two-way investments; is concerned about the lack of predictability in the application of rules by authorities;

19.  Welcomes the intensified EU-Russia dialogue on energy issues; underlines the importance of energy imports for European economies, which represents a potential opportunity for further trade and economic cooperation between the EU and Russia; stresses that the principles of interdependence and transparency should be the basis of this cooperation, together with equal access to markets, infrastructure and investment; calls on the Council and the Commission to ensure that the principles of the Energy Charter Treaty, the Transit Protocol annexed to it and the G8 conclusions are included in a new agreement between the EU and Russia, including further cooperation on energy efficiency, energy saving and renewable energy;

20.  Advocates the exchange of information on advanced energy technologies and encourages contacts between EU and Russian energy sector actors, as well the efforts necessary to improve energy efficiency and to develop non-CO2-emitting technologies, which present significant opportunities for cooperation, particularly industrial cooperation, with the exchange of best practices and technologies between Russian and EU companies;

21.  Calls upon Russia and the EU Member States to reach the prescribed targets of the Kyoto Protocol and insists, in this respect, on the specific responsibility of developed countries to take the lead in reducing emissions; calls on Russia to play an active role in future international negotiations and to facilitate a swift agreement by 2008, and by 2009 at the latest, to ensure continuity of the global carbon market;

22.  Welcomes the initiatives to achieve visa-free travel between the European Union and Russia, holding out the prospect of improved relations; calls for further cooperation on illegal immigration, improved checks on identity documents and better information exchange on terrorism and organised crime; emphasises that the Council and the Commission must ensure that Russia complies with all the conditions set in any negotiated agreement on the elimination of visas between the two sides to prevent any breach of security and democracy in Europe;

23.  Calls on the Council and the Commission to redouble their efforts to solve the problems involved in crossing the EU-Russian border and to engage in concrete projects and fully use the new Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument and INTERREG funds for cross-border cooperation;

24.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States and of the Russian Federation and the Council of Europe.