The Committee
on Foreign Affairs adopted the own-initiative report drawn up by Janusz
ONYSZKIEWICZ (ALDE, PL) on a proposal for a European Parliament
recommendation to the Council on the new EU-Russia agreement.
Recalling that
EU relations with Russia are of crucial importance for the purposes of
pragmatic cooperation and that Russia is the third largest trading partner of
the EU and the fourth largest trading partner of the Eurozone and an
essential energy supplier to the EU, MEPs address the following
recommendations to the Council and the Commission and ask
them to take
them into account when pursuing the negotiations:
Human
Rights: MEPs:
- continue to
insist on a broad, wide-ranging and legally binding agreement based on a
shared commitment to human rights;
- insist that the EU’s relationship with Russia
must be based on respect for the rule of international law and all
binding agreements and treaties to which Russia and EU Member States
adhere, including the UN Charter, the European Convention on Human Rights
and the Energy Charter Treaty, as well as the rules and commitments
incumbent on members of the OSCE and Council of Europe;
- proposes putting in place a consultation
mechanism, under the responsibility of the High Representative, which
would enable Member States to consult each other sufficiently in advance
on every bilateral issue – whether an agreement or a dispute – with
Russia which could have repercussions on other Member States and the EU
as a whole;
- insist
on raising with the Russian Government concerns about the human rights
situation and the shrinking space for Russia's civil society and to take
prompt and effective steps to foster a favourable working climate for
human rights organisations and independent charitable organisations
engaged in the promotion of cultural links between Russia and EU Member
States;
- call
on the Russian Government to fully respect media freedom and guarantee
the enjoyment by independent media of political and economic conditions;
- call
for the revision of the EU-Russia human rights consultation to make it
more efficient;
- appeal
to the authorities of the Russian Federation to guarantee the existence
and sustainable development of the traditional lifestyle, culture and
language of indigenous people living within its borders.
Membership of the WTO: MEPs:
- continue
to maintain support for Russia’s accession to the WTO and support the further
opening-up of the Russian economy and to create a free-trade zone
between the EU and Russia, which continues to be a long-term objective;
- call
for further improvements to be made in legislation and law enforcement
as regards the protection of intellectual, industrial and commercial
property rights in order to increase competitiveness and make the investment
climate attractive;
- call
for new measures to combat effectively counterfeiting and piracy.
Energy and environment: MEPs:
- insist
that the Energy Charter Treaty, as an existing treaty which is legally
binding on Russia and all EU Member States, should be the basis for
relations in the field of energy;
- call
for the establishment of a legal framework governing the transit
of energy supplies and insist on increased transparency, reciprocity and
security of investment and for a consequent enhancement of security
of energy supply;
- underline
the need to establish mechanisms for a transparent rules-based system and
dispute settlement mechanism in the field of energy.
Political dialogue and Georgia issue:MEPs call for:
- a
clear code of conduct governing relations between the EU, Russia and the
countries of the shared neighbourhood, including provisions relating to
respect for the sovereign independence of all European states, a
commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes and a determination to
resolve frozen conflicts;
- improvements
on the existing political dialogue so as to encourage discussion of “hard
security issues”, which are often at the core of the disagreements
between the EU and Russia but which indubitably affect European and
global security;
- a
positive contribution to finding a sustainable political solution for
the future of Kosovo and for the further enhancement of the stability of
the Western Balkans;
- a
real commitment from the Russian authorities to resolve in a constructive
and peaceful manner, together with Georgia and the EU, the “modalities
of security and stability in Abkhazia and South Ossetia” (MEPs urge the
Russian Government to ensure that EU monitors are granted full access to
all areas affected by the conflict, in compliance with the mandate of
the EU Monitoring Mission).
Visa policy: MEPs:
- insist that
the goal of visa-free travel vis-à-vis Russia be pursued in the light of
Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001;
- insist on a
clear commitment from the Russian authorities to reduce bureaucratic obstacles
applied in a non-reciprocal manner with respect to all travellers, such
as the need to have an invitation and to register upon arrival;
- insist that
visa facilitation for students, researchers and businessmen should be a priority
in order to promote people-to-people contacts;
- urgently
address the Kaliningrad transit and visa problem, possibly by providing
for the whole of the Kaliningrad Oblast to be covered by the local
border traffic regime.
Market
liberalisation: MEPs call for:
- the
liberalisation of markets and the reciprocity of investment rights
between the partners, as well as the guarantee the property rights of
foreign investors;
- the compatibility
of Russian legislation with Russia's current and future obligations
under the WTO;
- the phasing
out of Siberian overflight payments requested by Russia and the signature of the agreement reached on this issue at the summit in Samara;
- free passage
through the Pilawa strait to allow access for EU shipping to the passage
to Asia along the Northern Russian territory.
Lastly, MEPs
ask the Council and the Commission to keep Parliament regularly and fully
informed of the progress of the negotiations.