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Joint statement by S. Berlusconi, President of the European Council, assisted by J. Solana, Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for EU Common Foreign and Security Policy, R. Prodi, President of the Commission of the European Communities and V.V. Putin, President of Russian Federation

Rome, Italy | 6 ноября 2003 года

We, the leaders of the European Union and the Russian Federation, held intensive and productive discussions in Rome on 6 November 2003. We agreed to reinforce the strategic partnership between the EU and Russia on the basis of common values with the aim of consolidating stability, security and prosperity on the European continent. We reaffirmed our shared vision of a united European continent.

Integrating Europe - creating common spaces

We reconfirmed our commitment to promote further rapprochement and gradual integration of social and economic structures of the enlarged European Union and Russia. In this regard, we agreed to intensify and focus our efforts to fulfil the decision to create common spaces between the EU and Russia, building on the PCA and the Joint Statement of the St. Petersburg Summit. In so doing, we expressed strong determination to produce concrete results.

We agreed to step up our efforts aimed at streamlining our political dialogue and launching the work of the EU-Russia Permanent Partnership Council, which will make our co-operation more efficient and transparent.

We will continue our extensive discussions on the impact of EU enlargement and endeavour to make progress on outstanding issues aiming at their speedy resolution. We look forward to the timely extension of the PCA to the new EU Member States.

The common European economic space – building blocks for sustained economic growth

We endorsed the work of the CEES High Level Group and welcomed the annexed concept of the common European economic space (Annex I). We agreed to continue this work, taking full account of the recommendations of the HLG report (Annex II), with a view to achieving tangible results as early as possible. We noted the importance of business-to-business dialogue and encouraged intensified dialogue in relevant fora with a view to presenting proposals on how to promote trade and investment.

We undertook to ensure that EU enlargement brings the EU and Russia closer together in a Europe without dividing lines. We reaffirmed our commitment to implement as soon as possible and in full the package on Kaliningrad agreed in November 2002, including the launch of a high-speed train feasibility study before the end of 2003 and its timely completion. We welcomed the entry into force of the Russian-Lithuanian Border Agreements. We noted with satisfaction the success of our co-operation to facilitate the transit of Russian citizens. We welcomed positive developments in the field of customs co-operation. We confirmed our readiness to intensify our result-oriented work within the PCA framework on the appropriate modalities for the transit of goods.

We welcomed the progress achieved so far on the negotiations on Russia's accession to the WTO and remain persuaded that it is both possible and desirable to work towards Russia's accession taking place towards the end of 2004. We called on our negotiators to intensify their work and resolve the outstanding issues for conclusion of bilateral market access negotiations on Russia's WTO accession with this timeframe in mind, whilst ensuring mutually acceptable and commercially viable terms. We agreed to aim towards the early resolution of outstanding bilateral trade issues.

We took note of the annexed fourth Progress Report on the Energy Dialogue (Annex III). We welcomed progress in the field of energy and agreed to enhance our co-operation in this area.

We noted the key role of integrated transport networks and of systems of satellite navigation in underpinning economic co-operation.

10. We recognised our responsibility to tackle together and in the framework of relevant international organisations, instruments and fora, common environmental challenges and shared concerns regarding climate change and transport safety.

Towards the common space of freedom, security and justice

We agreed to take forward work to create a common space of freedom, security and justice.

We reaffirmed the importance of people-to-people contacts in promoting mutual understanding between our citizens. We welcomed the recent meeting of our experts, which took place in the context of our agreement to examine conditions for visa-free travel as a long-term perspective and to look at existing flexibilities within the Schengen agreement, in order to facilitate travel in the short term and on a reciprocal basis. We agreed to pursue this dialogue. We took note of the progress of our negotiations on an EU-Russia readmission agreement and agreed to continue to work towards its timely conclusion.

We underlined our shared interest in intensifying co-operation in the field of justice and home affairs. We instructed our experts to vigorously implement the Action Plan on Organised Crime. We welcomed the signature of the agreement between the Russian Federation and Europol.

The common space of external security - partners in security, crisis management and international relations

We confirmed a high degree of mutual understanding in regard to a number of acute international issues and the central role of the UN in world affairs.

We condemned all acts of terror and stressed the importance of international co-operation to combat terrorism in all its forms. We are committed to intensified co-operation on new security threats and challenges. Contacts are also foreseen to explore possible co-operation in the field of civil protection and long-haul air transport for crisis management.

We agreed to strengthen our dialogue and co-operation on political and security matters, thus contributing to the consolidation of peace and stability. We confirmed the importance of working together to address crisis situations and in support of on-going efforts in agreed formats aimed at the resolution of frozen conflicts in Europe and beyond.

To underline our willingness to co-operate in these areas, we adopted a joint declaration between the European Union and the Russian Federation on strengthening dialogue and co-operation on political and security matters (Annex IV).

The common space of research and education, including cultural aspects – our common intellectual heritage and capital

We welcomed the renewal of the Agreement on Science and Technology Co-operation. We agreed to examine means to open up our science and technology programmes to EU and Russian researchers to the fullest extent possible on a reciprocal basis.

We welcomed Russia’s accession to the Bologna process and agreed to promote intergovernmental collaboration in the education sector. We looked forward to Russian participation in the EU Erasmus Mundus programme, from 2004.

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We agreed to continue our discussions on various matters of interest for the EU and Russia.

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