Partnership And Cooperation Agreement Research Articles

Russia-EU political relations: Evolution and prospects

The article is devoted to the analysis of the evolution, nature and content of Russia-EU political relations, formally established by the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) of 1994. The paradigm of building a united Europe and a common European security space in line with overcoming post-bipolar confrontation and the emergence of post-Soviet Russia as well as the European Union, established in 1992, as new actors in international arena became the basis for their cooperative relations, which was built towards strategic partnership. It was strengthened at the turn of the 2000s, including on the basis of mutual strategies of relations, when Russia’s “European choice” was declared and the EU’s “new dynamics” in security and defense dimension were initiated. However, the NATO-centric model of European security and the policy of expanding Euro-Atlantic institutions to the East created a potential for conflict, and Russia-EU cooperation entered a phase of a latent crisis, especially as a result of differing interests in the so-called common neighborhood. Attempts at a new strategic start by the adoption of Russia-EU Roadmaps on the four common spaces and by planning the negotiations on a new basic agreement failed to overcome fundamental disagreements and contradictions. The Ukrainian conflict became the culmination of the Russian-European crisis and fundamentally changed the direction and content of Russia — EU relations. The defining of the future strategy of relations is becoming increasingly acute, which is considered in the article as a challenge of strategic choice for the parties. The author substantiates the prospect of overcoming the “new normality”, which is boils down to maintaining a controlled mutual deterrence, although it does not exclude the option of terminating the Russia-EU legal relations (“breakesit”).

THE ROLE OF INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT IN IMPROVING COFFEE COMPETITIVENESS IN THE EU-INDONESIA PARTNERSHIP AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT FRAMEWORK

Indonesia is a crucial trading partner for the European Union (EU) and vice versa. Indonesia as one of ASEAN member countries contributes 36% of ASEAN's GDP with a population of 255 million (equivalent to almost half the ASEAN population). Indonesia and the EU further strengthen economic cooperation through the framework of the EU-Indonesia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) cooperation. In the framework of the collaboration, most of Indonesia's exports to EU countries are in the form of agricultural and plantation commodities. For plantation commodities, coffee is Indonesia's leading export commodity with the potential to increase national economic growth. However, Indonesian coffee production has not been fully able to control EU market share. Although Indonesia is the third largest coffee producer in the world, Indonesia only controls 4.17% of the EU coffee market share. This is because only a small portion of Indonesian coffee is produced based on EU standards such as sustainability standards. Therefore, the Indonesian Government seeks to improve the competitiveness of Indonesian coffee commodities, such as production, quality of coffee, quality standards, human resources, and government coordination with coffee / private sector entrepreneurs.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ КОНЦЕПЦИЙ НОВОГО СОГЛАШЕНИЯ МЕЖДУ РФ И ЕС В РОССИЙСКОЙ НАУКЕ

One of the priorities of the Russian foreign policy is adoption of a new basic Agreement between theRussian Federationand the European Union. The article discusses the concepts formed in the Russian legal science on the preparation of a new Agreement betweenRussiaand the EU. The author describes the Concept of modernization of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), established in 2005, analyzes the projects of "growing cooperation" 2008 and proposals for prolongation of the current PCA. Emphasis is made on the need of continuity of the PCA provisions and the practice of its application. The purpose of the study is to examine evolution of the Russian researchers views concerning preparation of a new basic Agreement between theRussian Federation and the EU. Methodology - In the article both analytical and historical methods are used. As a result the author comes to a conclusion that in the modern conditions of a new Agreement preparation it is necessary to consider practice of the current PCA application and to be aimed at development of the parties cooperation. Practical implications - Materials of the article can be applied in preparation of a new basic Agreement and in educational process at the law institutes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2014-1-1

Trust, structures and Track-2 Dialogue in the EU-China relationship: resetting and resettling a ‘strategic partnership’?

This article looks at matters of trust, of structures and of dialogue in the European Union (EU)-China relations. It argues that EU-China relations need resetting given the increasingly negative perceptions of China in Europe and given Chinese dissatisfaction with what it considers to be a degree of EU incoherence, incompetence and inconsistencies. Their ‘strategic partnership’ proclaimed in 2003 in many ways is rather empty and lacks much coordination of diplomacy. Their economic relationship while substantial is problematic and asymmetric in nature. However, restructuring the relationship through new dialogue mechanisms and agreements may resettle their relationship along more pragmatic functional grounds. In particular, the creation in 2012 of a third High Level Dialogue, at Track-2 rather than Track-1 level, that of People-to-People (PPD), may reduce the ‘trust deficit’ in the still longer term. Consequently, the article seeks to contextualize and evaluate the rhetoric and substance surrounding the various dialogue meetings and structures emerging in 2012. It also considers the progress, or perhaps lack of progress, on concluding a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). It concludes that one way forward is to de-politicize the partnership.

EU-Russia Trade Relations: It Takes WTO to Tango?

On 22 August 2012, Russia finally became, nineteen years after its application, a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This historical step was applauded by many EU officials as they argue that Russia's WTO accession not only means the country's definitive accession into the world market economy, but that it also creates a window of opportunity for deepening EU-Russia trade relations. The current EU-Russia legal framework, the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), is limited in its scope and contents and does not provide the EU with a solid legal instrument to rely on in its many trade disputes with Russia. Therefore, this article analyses to which extent Russia's multilateral WTO accession commitments will broaden and deepen the bilateral PCA in order to reduce or settle these trade conflicts. Particular attention will be devoted to the EU's role in Russia's WTO accession process. On the basis of three case-studies (i.e., (i) Russia's sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) import bans, (ii) energy disputes and (iii) Russia's export duties on raw materials), the author argues that the results are rather mixed. In addition, it will be demonstrated that the prospect of an EU-Russia Free Trade Area (FTA) remains unrealistic because the feasibility of such an undertaking is hampered by several legal and political obstacles.

Die EU-Russland-Beziehungen: eine Ausweitung innenpolitischer Interessen?

In the paper, the author emphasizes a new stage in relations between Russia and the EU in2008, following the election of D. Medvedev for president. This marked the beginning of intensivetalks on the extension of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and the launchof the EU-Russian Partnership for Modernization. These activities failed, which primarily resulted from how the internal situation developed in Russia. The EU observed that democratization in Russia failed to progress, and the guiding motto of the Putin/Medvedev tandem was to gain and maintain power. The EU was particularly critical of the state parliamentary elections in 2011 and presidential elections in 2012. The EU and Russia have different points of view on the development of bilateral relations. Russia expects the EU to provide technological support and abandon visas, whereas the EU expects Russia to observe Western standards of human rights, freedom of the media and an oligarch-free economy. It will be difficult to align the interests of the EU and Russia outside the energy sector, which is the only sector that may stabilize their overall relationship.

The Case of the European Union Partnership and Cooperation Agreement Negotiations with Thailand

This article examines the European Union’s (EU) current negotiations of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with Thailand. It asks why the EU has entered into the negotiation process with this remote developing economy and provides theoretical explanations for the EU’s motivations. It will give an overview of the process and discuss the issues that have emerged in the course of the negotiations and are currently pending. The article will assess the pre-negotiation phase and the obstacles during the negotiation phase that have delayed the conclusion of the process. The findings will allude to historical institutionalism and a self-devised content-context approach synthesised with William I. Zartman’s insights on negotiation theory. The article argues that despite the importance of the economic dimension of the negotiations and the general prevalence of international political economy in explaining the EU’s relations with Asia, this case reveals a complexity of variables that contest a purely economic lens and allow a theoretically eclectic and reflectivist understanding of the impediments, stimuli and of the process itself.

EU-Russia Relations: Focus on Energy and Other Issues

The EU-Russia cooperation programme is unique in a sense that it is based on continuous dialogue which fosters a sense of partnership; secondly the EU combines the knowledge and expertise of all of its 27 member states; thirdly the programme is based on a framework established by the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and the four ‘common spaces’ and lastly the financing provided by the European Commission for cooperation with Russian counterpart organisations is in the form of grants not loans.

Prospects for EU-Moldova Economic Relations

In recent years, external links of the Republic of Moldova have been determined by the influence of two geopolitical blocks, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the European Union (EU). Moldova is currently a member of the CIS, largely as a result of historical economic and political ties.However, despite the strong ties with the CIS, relations with the EU are becoming increasingly important particularly with regard to the economic situation in the country. Following the 2007 EU enlargement, Moldova will directly border the EU community, as a result of the border with Romania, making strong relations with the EU even more important. Further, there are a large number of inhabitants of Moldova who possess Romanian passports which will necessitate increased Moldova-EU cooperation.This study analyzes the current situation in Moldova and presents scenarios for future economic integration of Moldova with the European Union. It is expected that these findings will be used in the formulation of Moldovan economic policy, particularly while drafting the next framework agreement with the EU.The report begins with the presentation of recent economic trends in Moldova. The year 2005 was the fifth successive year of high economic growth, marking the country’s recovery after a deep and prolonged recession during the 1990s. Chapter 1 analyzes the effects of recently proposed and implemented macroeconomic policies, as well as a discussion of some of the structural changes that have taken place during the last five years.Chapter 2 provides a background of EU-Moldova relations. It presents the economic aspects of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), the main document to date regulating relations between the EU and Moldova. This is followed by a discussion of the Moldovan role in the EU Neighborhood Policy and a description of bilateral trade relations, including Moldovan participation in the Balkan trade integration that will lay the groundwork for increasingly in-depth economic relations with the EU. Additionally, special attention is given to Transnistria and EU involvement in integrating this breakaway region into the Moldovan economy. As a partner in the EU European Neighborhood Policy, in early 2005, Moldova signed the Action Plan that aims to bring the country closer to the EU. In fact, this Action Plan is a precondition for tightening relations between Moldova and the EU. For this reason, the team of researchers decided to conduct an independent assessment of the stages of fulfillment of the economic provisions of the EU-Moldova Action Plan, which is presented in chapter 3. Chapter 4 describes prospects for future EU-Moldova economic relations. First, the author evaluates the bilateral positions of Moldova with respect to various countries, the readiness to integrate with the EU and the expectations of further EU integration. Second, the most feasible stages of integration are presented, which include trade liberalization, resulting in the implementation of a free trade area, economic integration of Transnistria and fewer restrictions on movement of labor. These steps should be supported by the new financial possibilities that would open under the new European Partnership and Neighborhood Instrument.Finally, current attitudes towards the integration with the EU and EU economic principles given by Moldovan economic actors are presented in chapter 5. These are the results of an opinion poll that was conducted among 200 representatives of business, public administration and academics in Moldova in the autumn of 2006. The report concludes with a set of recommendations.This report was prepared by a team of Polish and Moldovan experts. The authors are grateful for the support and assistance received from the following institutions: the Ministry of the Economy and Trade of the Republic of Moldova, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Chisinau. This report was made possible due to the financial support provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland.

A Preliminary Perspective of Negotiations of EU–China PCA: A New Bottle Carrying Old Wine or New Wine or Both?

AbstractThe EU–China Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) is a relatively new type of agreement between the EU and a third country, and its negotiation and conclusion will bring about a new landscape for the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two sides. However, owing to the broadness, importance and complexity of EU–China relations, and the unique multiple‐level governance within the EU itself, the negotiation and conclusion of the new PCA deems to be a hard and time‐consuming process. In light of the EU internal aspects, the new PCA seems to be related to several treaty‐making competences and procedures, thus probably with the form of a mixed agreement as the final outcome. In terms of substantive issues, market access, transparency, intellectual property rights, China's full market economy status, abandonment of embargo on arms sales and high‐tech trade, democracy, human rights, rule of law, good governance and dispute settlement clauses, etc are all inevitably the tough and core issues. Nevertheless, it is believed that both sides will strive to lay down a systematic, stable and sustainable treaty law basis for a comprehensive EU–China strategic partnership in the spirit of seeking commonality, mutual respect and trust, and equal consultation.

The Finnish Presidency: Efficiency Before Eloquence?

At the conclusion of the second Finnish presidency of the European Union (EU) in the second half of 2006, the Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja noted that the Presidency had consisted of 65 per cent unforeseen events and 35 per cent anticipated events; and overall, it had been more successful with the former than the latter (Tuomioja, 2007). There are several reasons for such a surprising conclusion. Above all, some of important issues like the services directive, REACH and the EU Battle Groups had been largely agreed prior to the Finnish presidency. Therefore, the ambitions on the legislative front and European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) were not particularly high. Due to the expiration of the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) with Russia and the fact that that relations with Russia is a special field of interest and expertise of Finland, the presidency’s main efforts concentrated on concluding the mandate for the negotiations on the PCA. However, these efforts were impeded by the dispute between Poland and Russia on meat imports (see Allen and Smith, this volume). Another anticipated item on the agenda, enlargement, proved to be more strenuous than before.Against this background it can be said that the successful handling of the unexpected war in Lebanon ‘saved’ the Finnish presidency and it can be considered a ‘successful’ presidency. The Finnish presidency would appear as one in which political leadership was the most prominent in sudden crises and least prominent in issues EU’s on the long-term agenda. JCMS 2007 Volume 45 Annual Review pp. 17–24

"Sovereign Democracy" and Russia's Relations with the European Union

Abstract: This article examines Union-Russia relations against broader trends in Russian foreign and security policy. It assesses the prospects for a new agreement to replace the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, analyzes the recently appeared Russian concept of sovereign and considers the challenges Moscow's more assertive foreign policy presents to Europe. Keywords: democracy, Union, foreign policy, Russia, security, sovereignty Introduction How are relations between the Union and Russia, two entities whose interaction--especially in term of trade, energy markets, and security--is crucial to the future of the continent, conceptualized? On the one hand, positive developments appear to hold out the prospect of Russia's inclusion in a wider political community. The establishment of high-level institutional arrangements--biannual summits, the Permanent Partnership Council Ministerial, and Ministerial EU Troika-Russia meetings--and the development of an increasingly dense network of contacts between officials and experts across wide areas of sectoral cooperation give Moscow a privileged and perhaps unique position among Brussels's many partners. Russia's leaders frequently stress the importance of the country's European choice. On the other hand there are growing strains in the relationship. The lack of a coherent policy for engagement with Russia or a common strategic vision, particularly regarding their shared neighborhood; a relatively narrow agenda for security cooperation; disputes over trade and energy issues; Moscow's insistence on a partnership between equals and the reluctance of Russian elites to accept the imposition of norms and models; the gap and concerns among Europe's policymakers about Russia's political, social, and development--all of these factors have combined to silence talk of Russia's systematic integration into Europe, or of Europeanizing Russia, and create a climate of limited pragmatic cooperation. One authoritative Russian commentator, not alone in his assessment, recently characterized the relationship in terms of economic rapprochement accompanied by complete geopolitical stagnation ... relations [with Europe] are respectable and calm but are not going anywhere in particular. (1) This article identifies the key assumptions underpinning Russia's dealings with the EU and examines them against broader trends in Russian foreign and security policy, which has recently undergone a notable--and perhaps decisive--shift. It falls into three parts. First, a brief critical analysis of the existing basis for EU-Russia relations as contained in the road maps for the four Common Spaces, (2) adopted at the May 2005 summit, and proposals for a new agreement to replace the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), whose initial term is due to expire at the end of November 2007, are presented and assessed. Second, we investigate the views of Russia's governing elite on the country's role in the international system and examine the ideas underpinning the concept of sovereign promoted by some elites as a kind of new national ideology. Finally, the challenges presented to Europe by Moscow's more assertive foreign policy, and particularly the implications for their shared neighborhood, are considered. Russia's foreign policymakers perceive an security environment where Russian interests and values must be pursued competitively and that the underlying tension--unlikely to be resolved soon--between Moscow's preoccupations with sovereignty and national security on the one hand and, on the other, closer political, economic, and social engagement with Europe will continue to cause problems in the relationship. Beyond the PCA: What Kind of Future Agreement? The Common Spaces format signalled the failure of Brussels's earlier attempts to devise a suitable framework for relations with Russia through the Neighborhood Policy (ENP)--essentially an attempt to project the integrationist logic of the project into a wider external security space by promoting convergence with EU norms and models. …

The EU and Moldova: On a Fault-Line of Europe by Ann s> Lewis (review)

REVIEWS 987 appositely uses but which extend rather beyond the range of commonly encountered expressions. School ofLaw JANE HENDERSON King'sCollege London Lewis, Ann (ed.). TheEU andMoldova:On a Fault-Line of Europe.Europe's EasternBorders,5. The FederalTrust,London, 2004. 240 pp. f29.50. ANN LEWIS'Ssymposium of twenty-seven writersfrom Moldova, the EU, the US and Romania gives scant hope that Moldova will rapidlyheal its internal division or escape its rankingas the poorest and most pervasivelycorruptin Europe.Eventssincethebook'scompletion have not improvedtheprospect the OSCE's proposals for a federal state were abruptlyrejected in February 2004 and underscore the Editor's conclusion that vested interests entrenched in Chi?inau,Tiraspol, Kiev and Moscow will continue to frustrate federal unification which, given the variegated ethnic mixing in both Transdniestriaand the main partof Moldova, sheposits as the only long-term solution. For the main region, divisions within the governing party, nontransparencyin business and in administrationplus the lack of investment to improve the economic fundamentals allow few grounds for shorter-term optimism. BorderingRomania, which can expect membershipof the EU in 2007, and with almosttwo-thirdsof the population ethnicallyRomanian, Moldova could by now be on a similartrack:the contributorsto thisvolume explain why it is not. In a Foreword,Chris Patten, the EU Commissionerfor ExternalAffairs, offers no concrete expectation of membership for a country with the 'longstanding and stillunresolvedproblem of Transdniestria',and goes no further than hoping that the 2003 European Neighbourhood Programme 'opens up new avenues' (p. 5). Marius Vahl (Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels)writes of the EU's 'marginalization' of Moldova since it signed a Partnershipand Cooperation Agreement in November I 994. The Agreement did not enter into force untilJuly I998 and failedto lead, asformost otherexCommunist states, to an Association Agreement, nor even to easier financial assistanceundera lower-gradeNeighbourhood Agreement.AsAndreiNegula and Alexandru Simionov (respectivelychairand advisorof the ForeignAffairs Committee of the Moldovan Parliament)admit, 'the EU has not categorically refused Moldova's request for accession to the EU, but nor did the country receive any clear signalsin this respect'(p. I9 I). Moldova is off the EU agenda for two major reasons -the separatismof Transdniestriaand bad governance both there and in the larger part of the territory.Chapters by Elizabeth Teague (researchanalyst at the Ministry of Defence in London with long previous work at Radio Free Europe) and by Gottfried Hanne (three years a member of the OSCE mission in Moldova) furnish the clues to the Transdniestriaproblem. Teague describes the Soviet creationin I 924 of a sliverof land on the eastbankof the Dniester (thefrontier with Romania's then newly-absorbed Bessarabia) to become a Moldavian Autonomous Socialist Republic (ASSR) within Ukraine. This might have 988 SEER, 82, 4, 2004 been put into the context of the almost simultaneousinvention of a Karelian ASSR, upgradedin I940 to the Karelo-FinnishSSR, and even to some extent of the establishment of the ByelorussianSSR in 1922 and its enlargement in I924-26. All three cases were a statement of early Soviet intentions to regain tsaristterritory respectivelyfrom Romania, Finland and Poland.When, as Teague states,Romania benefitedfrom the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939 to regain Bessarabia in I940, it took advantage of the Nazi invasion of the USSR in 1941 to take over a large swathe of Ukraine, designating it Transnistra.This occupation was carriedout with such brutality(Romania itselfbeing under a fascist dictatorship) that Transdniestriansremain hostile to any merger of Moldova with Romania. But, as Hanne shows, they have little say on their destiny today, having fallen under the repressiveauthoritarianregime led by so-called president Igor Smirnov, who came to Moldova only in i987 and retainshis Russian citizenship. The Editorlinksseparatismwith domestic misrulein her Introduction.She is an appropriately-experienced retired diplomat her service included postings to the GDR and Soviet Union and in the FCO overseeing cultural relations with the then Communist states and has already edited earlier volumes on Belarus, Russia and Ukraine in the Federal Union's Eastern Borders Series. She shows how, under Gorbachev's glasnost' and in the immediate aftermath of the Soviet break-up, moves among the Romanianspeakingmajoritytowardsunificationwith Romania stirredthe Russian and Ukrainian minorities into civil war and to establishing their own rebel administrationin Tiraspol. Deputy ForeignMinisterIon Stavil'adescribesthe early...

The Northern Dimension — One Pillar of the Bridge Between Russia and the EU

Although Russia is not an applicant for membership of the European Union, it is linked to European integration in many ways. The EU Tacis programme, started at the beginning of the 1990s, provided early assistance for Russia’s transition to a market economy and market–oriented international integration. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the EU and Russia, which came into force in 1997, was a milestone, as were mutual cooperation strategies developed by each of the sides at the end of the 1990s. Naturally, Russia’s internal reform progress and its preparation for WTO membership are also significant for EU–Russia relations. Current steps towards creation of the Common European Economic Space, uniting the EU and Russia, represent a new level of cooperation.In addition to EU programmes and projects, which are purely Russia–related, Russia also figures large in the so–called Northern Dimension (ND) policy of the EU. The role of the ND in the network of EU–Russia institutions and programmes, where the above–mentioned general elements are only small parts of the whole, needs further clarification. It so happens that the most promising opportunities and demanding challenges of the ND policy begin with the letter ‘e’. Omitting some key areas, such as economy and education, sub–sections of this article will be devoted to energy, environment, eDimension, enterprises and EU enlargement.