Publication

Based on the findings of a high-level conference on EU-Russia relations held in Moscow in 2005, this paper analyzes bilateral trends in, inter alia, political, economic ,and legal relations. It examines in particular the four bilateral "common [economic] spaces" agreed upon at the 2005 EU-Russia summit, and conceptualizes them as a symbol of the replacement of a bilateral strategic vision of cooperation with one of a more technocratic nature based upon interaction between the Russian and EU administrations. It warns that such agreements may simply become "idle declarations" without a corresponding clear, shared understanding of strategic prospects or without sufficient underlying public support of these initiatives. The paper proposes a wide number of conclusions and recommendations from the conference on such polemics as WTO membership, Kaliningrad, and the role of private business, and emulates models upon which future relations could be based.