Preparation of the EU-Russia Summit in Stockholm of 18 November 2009

Tabled by Rebecca Harms, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Heidi Hautala, Werner Schulz, Bart Staes and Indrek Tarand
On behalf of the Greens/EFA Group

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Russian Federation, in particular the one of 17 September 2009,

- having regard to its resolution on external aspects of energy security adopted on 17 September 2009,

- having regard to its resolution on the EU-Russia summit in Khanty-Mansiyskof June 2008,

– having regard to the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which entered into force in 1997 and expired at the end of 2007,

- having regard to the EU-Russia consultation on human rights,

– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas trade and economic relations between the EU and Russia are steadily growing enhancing the interdependence of the parties in spite of the increasing misunderstanding and mistrust on fundamental political and economic issues,  

B. whereas the agreement due to replace the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) now being negotiated is facing obstacles and problems that are causing unforeseen delays that jeopardise the original ambitious expectations of the new framework and undermine the implementation of the Four Common Areas,

C. whereas energy continues to play a central and strategic role in EU-Russia relations; whereas the recent decision by Russia to withdraw its signature from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) further complicates these relations and puts at risk the ongoing energy dialogue and future potential developments; whereas energy is a key instrument of Russian foreign policy; whereas the EU's strong dependency on fossil fuels undermines the development of a balanced, coherent and value-driven European approach vis-à-vis Russia,

D. whereas this lack of coherence is widely reflected in the timid criticism by the Council, the Commission and the Member States of human rights violations in Russia and the situation in the Caucasus with regard, in particular, to Chechnya and Ingushetia, which are rarely or very weakly raised during the bilateral meetings,

E. whereas freedoms of expression, association and assembly in Russia have been curtailed and threatened in recent years and human rights defenders, independent civil society organizations, political opponents, independent media and ordinary citizens have all been victims of this rollback on civil and political rights,

F. whereas the municipal elections of 11 October highlighted again failures and shortcomings in the Russian system with widespread allegations of frauds and riggings and the inability of the Russian authorities to deal thoroughly with such claims, 

G. whereas numerous complaints have been lodged by Russian citizens by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg symbolizing the growing mistrust of Russian public opinion in the judicial system of the federation,  

H. whereas it is of the utmost importance for the EU to speak with one voice, show strong internal solidarity, adopt a common position and refrain from the Russian offers to step up bilateral relations with the most willing of the Member Countries; whereas, on the other hand, Member States should act responsibly and even-handedly, refraining from using their veto power on comprehensive and articulated negotiations,

I. whereas the recent decision of the US administration to review the original missile shield plan in Poland and the Check Republic and the ongoing negotiations on renewing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) pave the way for a new climate and a strengthened dialogue with Russia on security concerns in Europe and better cooperation on outstanding issues like nuclear disarmament and non proliferation,

J. whereas peace and stability in the common neighbouring countries are in the interest of both Russia and the EU; whereas the crises in these countries should be one of the key issues to be discussed in a frank and open manner with regard, in particular, to the frozen conflicts and the decision by Russia to recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,  

K. whereas, as a member of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe, the Russian Federation is committed to respecting the freedom of speech and of assembly; whereas the EU is supposed to share with Russia a strategic partnership based on the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law,

1. Expresses its concern at the state of relations between the EU and Russia and points out that the strategic partnership is increasingly turning into a partnership of a pragmatic nature with deeply diverging views on core issues;

2. Notes that the EU-Russia summit in Stockholm on 18 November 2009 will focus on the economic and financial crisis, climate change, energy and energy security as well as a number of regional and international issues;

3. Takes the view that every effort must be made so as to engage and challenge Russia in a constructive and open way with a view to facilitating the negotiations on a new and far-reaching framework agreement based on genuinely shared common values and interests;

4.  Points out that the road map for the implementation of the Four Common Spaces should be regarded as a key element for the negotiations and asks, in this regard, the Commission to present an evaluation of the present PCA in order to verify whether the potential of this agreement has been fully exploited and what needs to be done in order to avoid the mistakes and the shortfalls of the past;

5. Stresses once more that democracy and human rights must be at the core of any future agreement with the Russian Federation, with regard, in particular, to the definition and inclusion of an effective and operational human rights clause and that the quality and the depth of future relations depend on the respect and the support for such values;

6.  Regrets the lack of any concrete progress and follow-up in the EU-Russia Human Rights consultation and reiterates its call for its stepping-up so as to make it more effective and result-oriented with the participation of Russian ministries other than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the full involvement of the European Parliament at all levels;

7. Calls in this regard on the Commission and the Council to systematically issue a public statement based on the evaluation of the common commitments reached during this consultation; stresses at the same time that the location of this consultation must imperatively alternate as for all the other human rights dialogues conducted by the EU with third countries; takes the view, in this regard, that the briefings organised by the Commission with the civil society actors prior to the official consultation is an important tool that should be duly reinforced and taken into account by the Russian authorities with a view to transforming it into a fully fledged legal seminar involving academics, representatives of the civil society and officials of both sides;

8. Strongly supports the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders as part of the EU human rights policy and calls on the Council to further develop preventive protection measures while focusing on the protection and support of human rights defenders; calls in particular for having as standing item of the EU-Russia Human Rights consultation the protection of human rights defenders; stresses in this regard the request of the European Parliament to set up a focal point for human rights defenders in all three institutions so as to better coordinate actions with European and international human rights bodies;

9.  Calls on the Russian authorities to comply with all the rulings of the European Court on Human Rights and to ratify the protocol on the reform of this body in the shortest delay; urges as well the Duma to ratify Additional Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights;

10. Highlights that a strong and independent civil society is a fundamental and irreplaceable element of a real and mature democracy; is deeply concerned, in this regard, at the deteriorating situation of human rights defenders and difficulties faced by the NGOs active in the promotion of human rights and in the environmental protection and ecological issues for their registration and in the implementation of their activities;

11. Condemns the brutal assassination ofMaksharip Aushev, a popular human rights activist and an opposition figure who was shot dead in Ingushetia; calls, in this respect, on the Russian authorities to put an end to the ongoing and widespread impunity for violence against human rights defenders and, in particular, to make it their priority to stop the climate of terror and lawlessness in North Caucasus and to protect and guarantee their physical integrity in conformity with relevant international and regional human rights instruments; calls in particular on the Russian authorities to adopt preventive protection measures as regards human rights defenders such as starting investigation as soon as threats faced by them are known by the prosecutor and the judicial system;

12. Calls on the Russian authorities to combat arbitrariness, to respect the principle of the rule of law and not to use the judiciary as a political tool; calls, in particular, for the improvement of the treatment of imprisoned personalities Michail Khodorkovski and Platon Lebedev, to guarantee these prisoners fair and just trials and to stop further politically motivated persecution;

13. Stresses that a free and fair electoral process is the core of a genuine and fully-fledged functioning democracy; welcomes, in this regard, the gesture of President Medevedev to meet the representatives of the opposition parties after the 11 October elections and hopes that he will take all the necessary measures so that electoral frauds will be effectively prevented and prosecuted;

14. Takes note of the ongoing difficulties concerning the energy dialogue and the efforts to include the principles of the Energy Charter Treaty in the new framework agreement; expresses its concern over the fact that the Russian state has re-taken control of all resources, including energy, while failing to invest politically in the democratisation of industrial relations and in improved transparency and accountability of industrial decision-making, in the absence of clear policy goals with regard to sustainable development and resource efficiency; calls on Russia to swiftly incorporate international best practice on transparency and public accountability into national legislation and to sign the ESPOO convention (on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context);

15. Regrets the lack of any consultation between Member States before signing bilateral agreements with Moscow which have an impact on the EU overall policies; deplores the use of energy by Russia as a political instrument and the uncoordinated signing of bilateral energy agreements by Member States, which undermine the interests and put into question the strategic priority projects of the EU as a whole and of other Member States; points out, in this regard, that the EU strong energy dependence on the Russian Federation deeply undermines the coherence, the assertiveness and the sustainability of its common foreign policy;

16. Recognises that in order to have 50:50 chance to maintain climate change to +2C, industrialised countryemissions need to be reduced at least by 80-95% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels;insists, on the specific responsibility of developed countries to take the lead in reducing emissions and considers that aggregate reductions by industrialised countries in the high end of the 25-40% range recommended by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changeby 2020 are necessary; in this context considers that all industrialised countries need to adopt targets that require ambitious reductions from current emission levels and that banking of surplus Assigned Amount Units from 2008-2012 period should not be allowed as this would seriously undermine environmental effectiveness of an international climate agreement;calls on Russia to play an active role in future international negotiations and to facilitate a swift agreement in Copenhagen;

17. Expresses its concerns regarding the security of the nuclear sector in the Russian Federation and its plans to export nuclear technology and material to other countries and the associated nuclear security and proliferation threats that this produces; calls on the Russian Federation to stop shipments of nuclear material as well as nuclear reprocessing, since these activities constitute potential proliferation risks;

18. Calls upon the Russian Federation to support the development of its renewable energy industry to make use of the huge environmentally sustainable resources that are available; calls on the Russian Federation to guarantee state-of-the-art environmental standards for all the oil and gas projects which are in progress or planned on its territory;

19. Welcomes the gradual rapprochement between the US administration and the Russian Federation and hopes that this can lead to a common and mutually beneficial framework aimed at strengthening security and stability in the whole continent; calls, in this regard, on the Council to play an active role in facilitating the dialogue between the parties with a view to stepping up conflict-prevention policies, facing common challenges and threats and achieve an effective nuclear disarmament; calls on the Russian Federation to substantiate its proposal for an upgrade of the current security architecture involving Russia, EU and the US in order to start the open and constructive dialogue on it as Russia has asked for;

20. Calls on the Council to take all the necessary initiatives and to put in place all the available instruments so as to prevent a new gas crisis between Russia and Ukraine and looks forward to the signing of an agreement on the establishment of an early-warning mechanism on energy security between the EU and the Russian Federation; stresses that the deepening of relations between Eastern neighbouring countries and the EU is in no way an alternative to sound and good-neighbourly relations of these countries with Moscow and calls, in this regard, on Russia to adopt a positive and constructive approach towards the Eastern Partnership;  

21. Stresses that according to the conclusions of the EU-led independent international commission of investigation into the war in Georgia of August 2008 both Georgia and Russia bear clear responsibilities for the tragic events and that during the five days of fighting, the Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian armies all contravened international humanitarian law; deplores the decision by Russia to recognise the independence of the Georgian breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and calls on the Moscow authorities to respect in full the "six-point agreement" concluded on 12 August 2008 allowing the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM Georgia) to have unhindered access to the two breakaway territories;

22. Calls on the Russian authorities to deliver on the given promise of Gdansk to allow the opening of all archives to scientists and historians in order to ensure an objective and truthful evaluation of the Russian and European past;

23. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Member States, the Government and the Parliament of the Russian Federation and the Council of Europe.