REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

Anasztázia KEREKE: International Economic Relationships of the Soviet Union … 481
The main EU interests in Russia include fostering the political and economic stability of
the country and maintaining a stable supply of energy.
Fig. 2. EU-27 trade
Source: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_113440.pdf
From 1991 until 2006, some 2.7 billion euros were provided to Russia in assistance
within the framework of the programme of Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth
of Independent States (TACIS), which was designed to enhance the transition process
towards market economy and democracy in countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
TACIS has been the biggest programme of assistance to the Russian Federation which
was ended in 2006. It was focusing mainly on the four common spaces, and funded by the
Union through the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), even
though Russia is not part of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). (Mathieu, 2008)
III.3. Partnership and Cooperation Agreement
The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement has been the framework of the EU-Russia
relationship for more than a decade. It was signed in 1994 and came into effect on 1st of
December 1997. The agreement regulates the political and economic relations between
the EU and Russia and is the legal basis for the EU's bilateral trade and investment
relations with Russia.
The EU and the Russian Federation are currently negotiating a new agreement to
provide the contractual framework for EU-Russia relations in the years to come, replacing
the 10-year old PCA. This new legally binding agreement should provide a
comprehensive framework for bilateral relations with stable, predictable and balanced
rules for bilateral trade and investment. In May 2003, during the Saint Petersburg
Summit, both partners decided to reinforce their partnership in the framework of the PCA
by creating four “common spaces”:
- a Common Economic Space – to establish an open and integrated market
between the EU and Russia;