Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-06-13-Speech-2-219"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2006-06-13"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:17th EU-Russia Summit (26 May 2006) (debate)2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20060613.26.2-219"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2006-06-13-Speech-2-2202
lpv:speaker	lp:Olli Rehn2
lpv:spoken text	". Madam President, thank you for a very serious and substantive debate. I fully agree with Mr Winkler in that regard. Mr Eurlings and various Members pointed out that we must not trade human rights for energy; I fully agree. We want both human rights and energy. How can we do that? We need principles, pragmatism and partnership. Reference was also made to free trade and the PCA. I want to finish with this, because this is a very important strategic issue in EU-Russia relations. The objective of a free trade agreement was already included in the PCA when it was concluded in 1994. For a free trade agreement, Russian accession to the WTO is a prerequisite. In this regard, it is important to note that the WTO accession process is now coming to its final phase and we expect that this condition will soon be met by Russia. Reference to a free trade agreement was made at the Sochi Summit for further exploration. Our point of departure is that trade and economic integration will be core elements for the post-PCA agreement and our intention is to set up a broader and deeper free trade agreement, some kind of ‘FTA-plus’ achieving deeper free trade than normal, simple free trade agreements. Let me conclude now, because I know that many colleagues have more important things to do. Let me point out that in the field of human rights we have established a set of formal consultations and we have had three meetings since the launch of these consultations in 2005. By way of example, the latest meeting focused on four issues: firstly, on the Russian law on non-governmental organizations; secondly, human rights in the military; thirdly, issues relating to the north Caucasus; and fourthly, racism and xenophobia. We also held a preparatory meeting with human rights non-governmental organisations, which we deemed particularly useful. I want to inform you that we will be holding the next meeting of these consultations in November in Moscow and will be pursuing the idea of closer involvement of NGOs. We want to make these consultations more results-oriented in the future. I can assure you that the Commission will keep human rights at centre-stage in our relations with Russia, not least as we are talking about the country which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of Europe. On energy, Mr Kelam referred to the interdependence between the EU and Russia. We can also say that we not only have interdependence but also import dependence, since by 2020 the EU will have to import around 70% of the gas it consumes. According to current forecasts, Russian production and export capacity will fall short of EU needs unless massive investment takes place in Russia. We are therefore working to ensure that sufficient additional quantities of gas can come into the EU and we will have to look at all possible sources and routes, including Turkey, incidentally. This requires strengthened cooperation and increased imports from Russia, as well as from other countries. At the same time, let us keep the big picture in mind. One of Europe’s greatest challenges will be to reduce dependence on energy imports and on fossil fuels. Therefore, it is very important that our energy policy and the external aspects of Europe’s common energy policy are very high on the agenda of the Finnish Presidency and, I trust, of all the future presidencies. Reference was made to Gazprom and its ambitions to purchase EU assets. In this regard the main concern within the EU is the apparent lack of a level playing field. EU companies which may invest in upstream assets in Russia do not have the right to independently access the Russian gas transportation infrastructure. Within the EU, the right to access gas transportation infrastructure is enshrined in EU legislation. In this context, the rules applicable to Gazprom, notably EU competition rules, would be no different to those applied to any other company. The fact that Gazprom is the exclusive supplier of gas from Russia to the EU would have to be taken into account in any objective analysis."@en1
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Allez les Bleus!"1 "Member of the Commission"1 "Olli Rehn,"1

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