В.Путин.Совместная пресс-конференция.24.11.06.Part 4

Joint Press Conference with the Prime Minister of Finland Matti Vanhanen, President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, Secretary General of the EU Council and EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg and Prime Minister of Iceland Geir Haarde following the Russia-EU summit meeting.Part 4 November 24, 2006 City Hall, Helsinki Совместная пресс-конференция с Премьер-министром Финляндии Матти Ванханеном, Председателем Комиссии Европейских сообществ Жозе Мануэлем Баррозу, Генеральным секретарем Совета ЕС, Высоким представителем ЕС по вопросам общей внешней политики и политики в области безопасности Хавьером Соланой, Премьер-министром Норвегии Йенсом Столтенбергом и Премьер-министром Исландии Гейром Хильмаром Хорде по итогам встречи на высшем уровне Россия Европейский союз 24 ноября 2006 года Хельсинки, мэрия In any case, their delay will not affect the whole range of our relations with the EU in a negative way. Our relations are based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, and thanks to this document our relations can continue every year. There is no legal vacuum in our relations with the EU. We will wait patiently for the moment when the EU agrees on a common position. For our part, we are also ready to make a contribution towards achieving this goal. Thank you. PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION JOSE MANUEL BARROSO: We had a very constructive discussion on a number of issues, ranging from economic cooperation to climate change and from human rights to international problems. And I consider that we can say that we achieved important progress with Russia. Russia is our important strategic partner and our closest neighbour. It is true that at this summit we were not able to begin negotiations on a new agreement with Russia to continue the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement that is set to expire, but we are not going to avoid a common future. We are going to begin this process as soon as possible and, as you know, we already agreed that the present agreement will continue to be in force until a new agreement has been prepared. Therefore no legal vacuum will form nor be reflected in the good relations that exist between Russia and the EU. I raised the issue of the Russian restrictions on imports of Polish meat. The European Commission considers that it is a disproportionate measure. We asked that these restrictions be removed. The technical commission determined that this ban is unfounded. We consider that this problem can be resolved and we are ready to actively contribute to resolving it, possibly through three-party talks between Poland, Russia and the European Commission. We raised other issues that directly affect our citizens. For example, the long transport queues at EU and Russian borders. We must work together to resolve this problem and to develop trade. As you know, one of the key goals of our common economic space is our aspiration to have Russia do everything possible to simplify customs and border procedures. And we can cooperate with the EU member countries that participate in this process to increase their ability on their side of the border to take into account congestion of the roads at these points. And we can cooperate with Russia if Russia so desires. But this is an intensive effort from both sides. A good signal in this respect is that economic and trade relations between Russia and the EU are growing, and we see this as a positive signal for our relations as a whole.Energy is certainly a very important priority in our relations. And it is an important part of our summit. We discussed energy and we are now developing the progress we reached in Lahti and aiming for a win-win situation: when the EU can offer technology and a market and Russia can of course use its profits to modernize its own production capacities and distribution networks. We base ourselves on the principles in the Energy Charter, the Agreement on the Energy Charter and on the G8 Declaration on Energy Security adopted in St Petersburg.

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