Abstract
The EU's relationship with Russia is crucial for Russia's economic and political development, the stability of the region, the security of the EU's energy supplies and the credibility of its foreign policy. Despite burgeoning economic relations and multiple joint projects and policy initiatives, the relationship has fallen well short of expectations and potential. The EU has toned down its rhetoric about building a ‘strategic partnership based on common values’, relying instead on day-to-day cooperation in an attempt to help Russia align itself with European norms and rules. But even this more pragmatic approach has produced more frustration than tangible progress.
In this paper, three long-time observers of Russia and the EU perform a reality check on the EU–Russia relationship. Christopher Coker takes a look at the situation from a cultural perspective and asks whether it makes sense for the EU to assume that Russia is ‘like us’, or at least on a path towards becoming so. His answer is a resounding ‘no’: he advises the EU to take account of Russia's need to reassert itself and come to terms with its internal contradictions. Leszek Jesień looks at the economic foundations of the EU–Russia relationship. He finds that the EU punches well below its weight, especially with respect to energy, where Russia needs the EU more than vice versa. If the EU had a more coordinated and coherent energy policy, it would find it much easier to speak with one voice and to rebalance its relationship with Russia. Katinka Barysch traces the ups and downs of the EU–Russia relationship since the early 1990s and explains why successive initiatives, from the energy dialogue to the creation of common spaces, have not produced results. Although Russia has moved towards statism and away from democracy, the EU still defines the success of its Russia policy in terms of positive change within Russia.
All three authors agree that a more realistic EU policy would deal with Russia as it is, not as the EU wants it to be. The reality of today's Russia is complex, as is the policy formulation process in the EU. Nevertheless, the EU should start with a clearer idea of where its own interests and priorities lie. It should accept that it can achieve fruitful cooperation with Russia in some areas while openly disagreeing with it in others. The EU needs to be prepared to work with Russia as an equal partner without compromising its own norms and values.