Relations UE-Russie : remise à plat ou stagnation ?

L’entrée en vigueur du traité de Lisbonne et la conclusion du 24ème sommet UE-Russie qui s’est tenu à Stockholm ont montré que les relations entre les deux blocs sont au point critique, écrit George Bovt dans un article de novembre pour le Centre UE-Russie.

« The whole Russian vision of its relations with Europe may be reconsidered. Moscow will have to deal with a much more efficient EU than before, » Bovt claims. 

On 18 November, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with EU Council President and Swedish Prime Minister Reinfeldt, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and High Representative for Foreign Affairs Javier Solana. They « reached agreement on all outstanding issues concerning energy co-operation, » the author notes. 

The agreement covers the North and South Stream pipeline projects, and also « requires Russia to notify the EU of any likely interruption; triggering consultations and joint prevention efforts, » Bovt writes. 

The agreement is « clear evidence of the goodwill of both sides to work together in a trustworthy and mutually beneficial way, building ways to prevent and solve problems even before they happen, » European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said. 

The summit also dealt with climate change. As the EU’s External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner put it, « we saw a very interesting new step forward for Russia. Russia is now ready to go for a reduction of 20-25% compared with 1990 levels of CO2 emissions. I think this is a very important step forward ». 

Regarding human rights, « many organisations have called on the EU to put pressure on Moscow, » Bovt notes, but « the summit in Stockholm demonstrated nothing of the kind outside the routine speeches ». 

Another thorny issue concerns Russia’s attempts to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Russia’s EU envoy Vladimir Chizhov stated « we confirmed that accession to the WTO is our goal, » Bovt recalls, while Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus would join the organisation on a separate but synchronised basis as part of their customs union. 

« To date Moscow has put more emphasis on bilateral relations with more positive partners in Europe, ignoring or downgrading the importance of those countries which it considered to be uncomfortable partners, » Bovt remarks, concluding that this strategy might not be as sustainable with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. 

« Moscow will eventually consider abandoning its preoccupation with the perceived Western military threat of NATO, especially taking into consideration the liberal voices within Medvedev’s circle who speak about the possibility of Russia joining NATO, » he notes. 

« Moscow has to prepare itself for the immediate future with the EU, not NATO, as the most effective strategic player on all fields of interaction, » Bovt concludes.