A few words about the trilateral negotiations between Russia, the EU and Ukraine. Honestly, we were not satisfied with the Commission`s role in the Commission`s consultations last year on the potential risks for Russia in the implementation of the trade and economic part of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. I participated in the consultations and I believe that the EU had the opportunity to prevent the unsuccessful end that led to a new spiral of restrictions on trade between Russia and Ukraine. The data are collected by the competent national authorities of the Member States and compiled according to a harmonised methodology defined in EU regulations before being transmitted to Eurostat. For extra-EU trade, statistical information is provided mainly by economic operators on the basis of customs declarations. The EU is Russia`s largest trading partner and accounted for 52.3% of Russia`s total foreign trade in 2008, and 75% of Russia`s foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks also come from the EU. In 2008, the EU exported €173.2 billion to the EU to Russia and Russia. Energy and fuel deliveries account for 68.2% of Russian exports to the EU. For more details on other trade relationships, see the table below. [201] Russia`s position among the EU`s main trading partners in 2019 is shown in Figure 3a. In 2019, Russia was the EU`s fifth-largest partner for goods exports (4%).
They were preceded by the United States (18%), the United Kingdom (15%), China (9%) and Switzerland (7%). It was the fourth largest partner for eu goods imports (7%), followed by China (19%), the US (12%) and the UK (10%) followed by Switzerland (6%). In 2012, Russia joined the WTO. At present, we already have four proceedings initiated by the EU against Russia and three by Russia in the WTO dispute settlement body. As the representatives of the Commission recently acknowledged, those who live in a glass house should not throw stones. The idea is not new, but it is very relevant. Let me remind you that this is being done in the context of declining trade sales, so that the dispute, including within the WTO, is beginning to lose its meaning. Russia`s permanent representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov [ru], said that Russia had no intention of joining the EU. [230] Vladimir Putin stated that Russia`s accession to the EU would be neither in the interest of Russia nor of the EU, although he advocated close integration in different dimensions, including the creation of four common spaces between Russia and the EU, including unified economic, educational and scientific spaces, as indicated in the 2003 agreement. [231] [232] Russia`s “counter-sanctions” – bans on importing agricultural products from Western countries – have resulted in losses for European producers and driven up prices for Russian consumers. Trade between the EU and Russia fell by 38.5% compared to the year between January and September. In 2010, Russia created a customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus.
This customs union became the Eurasian Economic Union (EAWU) in 2015. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan joined eawu in the same year. Eawu has legal expertise in many trade-related policy areas, such as customs, competition, trade protection of agricultural and industrial regulations, intellectual property rights and foreign trade policy. The aim of the common economic space is to create an open and integrated market between the EU and Russia.