Nr.2(10) / 2013.gada jūnijs - Par es.gov.lv

Russia and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region: bridging a (mis)connection gap 57Baltic Sea States Sub-Regional Cooperation (BSSSC), Union of the BalticCities (UBC), Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), Nordic institutions, etc.)basis, rather than on the EUSBSR platform. However, despite the predominantlyinward-looking nature of the Strategy, it suggests some venues forRussia’s participation in macro-regional cooperation:••Trade. To support and facilitate the development of EU-Russia tradeand economic cooperation, to combat customs fraud and enhancesecurity and safety of the supply chain in trade, a series of practicalmeasures is planned. The first step to be taken would be to reach anEU-Russia agreement on good governance in the tax area (includinginter alia gradual approximation of excise rates for cigarettes, whichare much cheaper in Russia).The EUSBSR flagship project 6.5 aims at the improvement of EU andRussian customs and border procedures by: a) implementation by Russia oflegislative, administrative and procedural measures to improve the situationat the border; b) implementation of a pilot project on EU-Russia informationexchange, and c) implementation and development of border-crossing andcustoms infrastructure. According to the flagship project 6.6, the so-called“Laufzettel” project should be re-launched with the objective of measuringborder crossing/clearance times and identifying bottlenecks, as well asopportunities to improve control procedures at the EU-Russian border. 3 WithRussia’s accession to the WTO in August 2012 (which was strongly supportedby the EU), the implementation of these projects can be facilitated.••Energy cooperation. Moscow is also involved in the EUSBSR flagshipproject 5.2, “Implement fully the EU–Russia Energy EfficiencyInitiative”, particularly in the annual work programs of the JointEU–Russia Thematic Group on Energy Efficiency of the EU–RussiaEnergy Dialogue. The Nord Stream project can also be seen as a venuefor informal EU-Russia energy cooperation. From the early 2000s,this project was included in the Trans-European Energy Network3Action Plan. Commission Staff Working Document Accompanying the Communicationfrom the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and SocialCommittee and the Committee of the Regions Concerning the European Union Strategy for theBaltic Sea Region. Brussels: The Commission of European Communities, 2010, pp. 29–30. http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/communic/baltic/action0520102010.doc(Home page of European Commission; visited 10.05.2013.).