Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-18-Speech-1-142"
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"en.20070618.16.1-142"2
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".
Madam President, first of all, let me congratulate the rapporteur, Mrs Quisthoudt-Rowohl, on this excellent report. I also want to thank the rapporteur for the excellent cooperation with the Commission when drafting this report.
Last, allow me a comment on the area I am responsible for: competition. Over the past few years, the Commission has established close cooperation with the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly service. I believe we need to further strengthen this dialogue to identify areas where we can work more closely together and build on increasing convergence between our systems. Competition law is an essential feature of good economic governance. The new law adopted last October has given Russian competition policy the means to be really effective. Therefore, we will continue to work with the Russian competition authority in the context of the Common Economic Space and future bilateral agreements with Russia.
In conclusion, allow me once again to congratulate the rapporteur on this excellent and balanced report, which the Commission will certainly take into account in our ongoing and future cooperation with Russia.
Over the past few years, Russia has seen impressive economic development. This is partly due to high energy prices, but also, to a large degree, to a sound macroeconomic policy. Russia is becoming a more and more important economic player in the world. Growth of the Russian economy has averaged 6-7% since 1999; Russia has a considerable budget surplus, is an important destination for foreign direct investments and holds the third largest amount of foreign currency reserves.
We should not forget how important Russia is for the EU, and how important the EU is for Russia. In economic terms, the picture is quite clear: we are by far Russia’s most important trading partner and, in turn, Russia is our third most important partner. The EU is by far the most important investor in Russia. In short, we need each other and we need to work closely with each other; this is in our mutual interest.
At the same time, it is also clear that some problems exist. There are questions about specific issues concerning the business climate, for example the continued high levels of corruption. But there is also a range of specific issues, such as the ban on imports of agricultural products from Poland, the oil supplies to Lithuania via the Druzhba pipeline and the planned increases in export duties for wood. However, despite all these challenges, we should not forget that we also need to look at the overall situation and the very substantial opportunities.
Your report is thus very timely. It provides a comprehensive overview of the issues at stake in EU-Russia relations. Allow me to focus on four points concerning our economic relations that you also highlighted in the report.
First, you rightly insist on the importance of the rule of law. This is not only important for the economic operators that want to invest in Russia: it is also indispensable for the long-term economic and political development of Russia itself. What is really needed – and this is not specific for Russia – is sound and effective application of laws and rules, and a fully independent judiciary. Only this will guarantee a predictable and stable economic environment. Rules are the key to attracting investment. But we also need rules for other areas, such as intellectual property rights.
The second point concerns the basis for our future cooperation. First of all, there is WTO membership, which is not an abstract aim in itself. WTO membership is the indispensable building block for successful and sustainable economic development. The Commission is working hard with Russia to achieve this as soon as possible, but we still need solutions for the outstanding issues. We also need to work towards launching negotiations on a new EU-Russia framework agreement to update the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. We should also consider a further deepening and strengthening of our bilateral trade and economic relations once Russia has acceded to the WTO.
In this context, I would like to thank Parliament for its support concerning the latest developments on Siberian overflight payments. The fact that we had a clear position and maintained unity on this issue led to a good result. The signature of the agreement – which has so far only been initialled – is one of our priorities. This issue needs to be resolved before Russia’s WTO accession. President Barroso made this point quite clear at the recent EU-Russia summit in May. On that occasion, the Russian Government confirmed its intention to sign the agreement in the next few months.
The third point concerns energy. You rightly say in your report that the primary objective of EU energy policy cannot simply be to avoid continued energy dependence on Russia. We need fair rules, not politics – rules for predictability and certainty on both sides. The call for security of supply implies security of demand. Our aim should be to promote two-way investment by energy providers and consumers, upstream and downstream. In this context we also need to agree on clear, enforceable standards for energy transit, as well as other aims."@en1
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