#2
Moscow Times
May 30, 2002
Editorial
EU-Russia: Are They Up to the Job?

It was hard to know what to expect from the EU-Russia summit this week, particularly given Brussels' hypertrophied bureaucracy (which would give Russia's administrative machine a run for its money in the bloatedness stakes) and its legendary lack of organization.

And it's not hard to understand Russia's decade-long frustration at trying to come to more equitable economic terms with its largest trading partner.

Indeed, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy joked that the mere fact he had managed to show up in Moscow at the same time as three other senior EU officials was a victory for Russia. "It is quite rare that the four of us are together in Brussels at the same time. And now we have all come to Moscow," he said. "This is a big achievement for Russia."

This probably wasn't quite the "big achievement" Russia was hoping for, but it is illustrative of why expectations were low.

Furthermore, travel freedom for residents of Kaliningrad, post-eastward expansion, continues to be a major thorn in the side of EU-Russia relations.

So it must have come as a pleasant surprise when Commission President Romano Prodi (who also made it to Moscow on Wednesday) told President Vladimir Putin that the EU had finally decided to recognize Russia as having a market economy -- particularly as just the day before commissioners had been pretty downbeat on the issue.

However, it should be noted that this decision comes nine years after the EU gave Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia market status -- a point that highlights the political nature of such decisions and irks Russia to this day.

It should also be noted that Prodi added a very EU-esque qualifier to his announcement, saying that it should be finalized by September or October. By that time, the United States will most likely have officially upgraded Russia's status to market economy, as the U.S. Commerce Department is obliged to make a ruling before June 14.

Nonetheless, it is great news for Russia. Not only will it give the country a more level playing field in Europe and offer protection from punitive anti-dumping tariffs -- especially on steel -- it will also give a boost to the government's drive to integrate into the world economy as an equal.

And with bilateral trade booming -- new figures show it rose 27 percent to 82.1 billion euros last year -- the EU now imports more than a third of Russia's exports. With that figure set to rise to more than 50 percent as EU expansion encompasses former Soviet states and satellites, there is no time for foot-dragging on either side.

Moscow seems up to the task. Is Brussels?

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