Russia and Europe: High time for integration

The global financial crisis seems to have persuaded the Russian government of the need to modernize an economy that depends too much on the export of raw materials. Consequently, 2010 could well be a breakthrough year in relations between Russia and the West, and particularly between Russia and the EU. Moscow increasingly looks to deeper economic integration with European member states and European businesses in order to nurture technological innovation and foster the country’s economic diversification, while strengthening its position as a modern global energy player.

Beyond the economic crisis, achievements such as the New Start Treaty and the thaw in Russian-Polish relations that followed the Smolensk tragedy indicate that Russia may have opted for a fundamental shift toward a more multilateral and cooperative approach to international problem-solving. As Russia begins to develop an understanding of modernization that is no longer limited to buying technologies from the West, but that actually intends to restructure society from within and that cooperation with the EU increasingly rests upon the perception of converging interests.

This new convergence is symbolized by the launch of a “Partnership for Modernization,” with which Russia and the EU agreed on a set of joint objectives, such as aligning technical standards and promoting a sustainable low-carbon economy, all of this based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. In practice, the partnership will initially focus on the progressive dismantling of visa barriers and on enhanced cooperation in the high-tech sector, with a view to supporting the improvement of Russia’s human capital by providing it with access to world-class technologies. In the long run, however, the partnership could go well beyond this pragmatic first step: a Free Trade Area, similar to the one that already exists between Norway and the EU, could be created within the next five years; and joint policy initiatives- for instance in the field of climate change are also imaginable.

This modernization partnership must also address what remains the pivotal element of EU-Russia cooperation and interdependence: energy. Since the election of President Victor Yanukovich in Ukraine earlier this year, energy relations between the two former Soviet nations have already significantly improved, and appear to be less politicized than under former President Viktor Yushchenko. Russia and Ukraine have even started to consider integrating their energy infrastructures. In the long run, this “détente” will probably open the way for Russia and the EU to develop a pact guaranteeing the security of energy supplies.

Under such a pact, Russia would get access to Western technologies in order to conduct the modernization its energy grid direly needs, while it would accept, in turn, that some European supply routes run across non-Russian territory, particularly through Turkey, with the Nabucco pipeline. This pact should also include the creation of joint Public-Private Partnerships that would own commercial pipeline consortia and ensure reliability.

A joint plan for the modernization of Siberia, for example, would provide a concrete way to achieve the objectives of the energy alliance, whilst Russia and the EU could also mastermind a joint energy savings program to help meet UN climate change targets. Western critics of Russia’s “deficient market philosophy” forget that Russia remains more democratic and market-oriented than most of the other energy exporting countries such as Algeria, Turkmenistan, Iraq or Venezuela, on which the EU and the U.S. will be heavily dependent in the future.

Can the Russian-Western rapprochement, and the Russia-EU partnership currently in the making, go as far as to fully integrate Russia into Western political structures – be it Nato or the EU? Judging by Russia’s history and national interests, and how these differ from those of the West, probably not, or at least not yet. But this does not mean that cooperation between the West and Russia should be restricted to the economic field. There is in fact a need for the partnership to move into the political sphere, particularly from the point of view of modernization: the Euro-Atlantic area would strongly benefit from deeper integration with Russia, especially in the wake of the global economic crisis. As Asian economies are set to soon overtake European economies, it is in the EU’s own interest to forge a strategic alliance with Moscow and unite to face future challenges. If the economic alliance succeeds, and the EU and Russia demonstrate that they can jointly cope with the world economic crisis, the idea of Russia’s integration with the U.S. and EU into future supranational Euro-Atlantic security architecture will eventually be revived.

Nonetheless, establishing a successful Russia-EU partnership, and more broadly a solid, steady and trusting relationship between Russia and the West, will not come without pre-conditions. The EU must take the necessary steps to simplify the mechanisms through which it deals with Russia: scrapping the rule for consensus among all 27 member states and instead forming a “core group,” representative of both old and new member states, responsible for negotiating with Moscow.

Poland, which has gone from being an outspoken critic of Russia to a proponent of the extension of the EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, should be part of this. Furthermore, the foundations of a new “Common European Home” should be laid. In this way the West should relinquish its habit of lecturing, and recognize the merits and specificities of Russia’s model, especially as it tries to deal with the global economic crisis by reintroducing a stronger role for the state, a conclusion that Russia had already reached in the late 1990s. The West needs a partnership of patience with Russia. Moscow, in turn, should fully and consistently engage in its modernization partnership with the EU and the U.S., and discard the idea of turning to Asia, which contradicts its European heritage and civilization.