Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen at the EU-Russia Industrialists' Round Table Meeting
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Esteemed participants of the EU-Russia Industrialists' Round Table, representatives of the business communities of both the EU and Russia, ladies and gentlemen!
First of all I would like to wish you all welcome in Finland. I also take the opportunity to express my deepest appreciation for your work. The work that is being carried out under the auspices of the EU-Russia Industrialists' Round Table is a unique form of cooperation to bring the business communities of both the EU and Russia together. It also serves to bring the views and concerns of these business communities to the attention of national authorities and decision-making bodies of the EU.
For the Finnish Presidency the development of EU-Russia relations has been one of the main priorities. The reasons are obvious: the EU and Russia are close neighbours with close and interdependent cultural, economic and political lives. Foundations of our strategic partnership are the shared values of democracy, rule of law and human rights as well as the principles of market economy and sustainable development. Our common interests relate to strong, competitive economies, increasing well-being and security among the citizens.
The main objective of the Finnish presidency is to contribute to the development of the EU-Russia relationship in the long term. The EU and Russia are preparing for negotiations of a new bilateral agreement to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. Both sides agree that the present agreement does not anymore correspond to the level and scope of today's wide range of cooperation. With the new agreement the EU strives for closer and deeper cooperation with Russia. The Finnish Presidency has made a great effort to achieve a negotiation mandate from members States before the EU-Russia Summit tomorrow.
To have real value, our cooperation must be beneficial to businesses, societies and peoples of the EU and Russia. Therefore, the second key objective of Finland's presidency is to enhance the prerequisites for day-to-day cooperation between EU and Russia. This is conducted within so called 'roadmaps for the common spaces' which cover the key sectors of cooperation: economy, justice and home affairs, international security, as well as research, education and culture.
As Russia has become one of the EU's main trading partners (on the 3rd place only behind the US and China) and EU tops the list of Russia's trading partners, issues related to economic cooperation features high on the EU/Russia agenda. Trade, investments and economic cooperation between the EU and Russia are constantly growing. However, in order to realise the full potential of the economic relations, the partners need to continue their work, among other issues, on removing technical and administrative barriers to trade, enhancing overall business and investment environment and improving transparency in the economic sector. This work is carried out in accordance with the common economic space roadmap. In longer perspective the objective is to create a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement between the EU and Russia. This will be possible once Russia's WTO membership becomes reality.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Energy cooperation between the EU and Russia features high on our agenda. From the EU perspective, securing energy supplies, ensuring reciprocal access to energy markets, developing energy infrastructures and improving energy efficiency are at the core of our goal to forge sustainable energy relations with Russia. As for Russia, national decisions of great importance are yet to be made - such as the level and form of foreign participation in energy projects, domestic pricing of energy and future new supply routes. Growing energy demand in the EU and increasing dependency on imports ensure that Russia will retain its position as one of EU’s key energy suppliers also in the future. Russia greatly benefits from revenues from its energy sales to the EU which is a stable, reliable and growing market. Furthermore, we believe that to modernise its energy production and infrastructure, and to keep up with growing demand, investment and cooperation from the EU is vital for Russia.
The Northern Dimension policy will be renewed during the Finnish presidency. The Northern Dimension is an important element of the EU/Russia strategic partnership, with a special focus on North-Western regions of Russia. The Northern Dimension also provides a useful framework for the development of the Barents region and the Baltic Sea region as a whole. In the new Northern Dimension, the EU, Russia, Norway and Iceland become equal partners. In Finland we see growing demand for regional and local cross-border cooperation between companies.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Russia has made significant progress towards WTO membership. EU has already concluded its negotiations. Recently we have also seen decisive further progress with other trade partners. At the end of this road it is easy to foresee further growth of mutual trade and investment between Russian and EU companies - something which is beneficial for our economies and societies, but also means growing challenge for the authorities. Hopefully we will see Russia as a full member in the near future.
During its existence the EU-Russia Industrialists' Round Table has provided us with invaluable information, objective and well thought-out views of European and Russian companies and business associations. Tomorrow morning the leaders of Russia and the EU will receive a presentation of the Business Cooperation Council, a body founded by and representing the IRT. The future may show us that the Industrialist Round Table may have become a partner we could hardly do without. Therefore it makes me happy to encourage you to keep up the good work.