EU - NIS strategic co-operation

The European Union is one of the world's most advanced economic areas. The New Independent States (NIS) which comprise the 15 former Soviet Union republics except the three Baltic States - namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the Ukraine, and Uzbekistan - have vast commercial, economic and scientific potential. They have all tried to implement economic, political and social reforms since 1991, backed up by EU co-operation and assistance in many areas.

Technical assistance - a key to transformation

EU Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) New Independent States (NIS) of the former USSR, and those Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) not in the pre-accession phase. Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan Other Countries with which co-operation is possible No co-operation

The enlargement process will give the EU new borders with Belarus, Moldova and the Ukraine, extended frontiers with Russia, direct access to the Black Sea, and so probably an increase in trade with Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Post enlargement, the EU will comprise a market of 500 million consumers and producers, needing access to the NIS' abundant supplies of energy and raw materials. There will be a substantial increase in trade and investment and, ultimately, the possible creation of a developing free-trade area for the interested countries of both East and West.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the EU Council of Ministers decided that technical assistance should be key in supporting the transformation of the NIS to democratic societies with competitive market economies, and created TACIS (Technical Assistance for the Commonwealth of Independent States).

The impact of this assistance has varied between different NIS countries, which show increasing differences in the development of their political and economic reforms. Most of them had first to tackle the difficult process of transforming themselves into independent sovereign states. Several have since made real progress in establishing democratic government, with free elections, a legal framework, freedom of expression, and an independent press.

PCAs for joint commitment

Being committed to continuing its programmes for co-operation and assistance to the NIS, the EU has signed, and in most cases already ratified Partnership and Co-operation Agreements (PCAs) with almost all NIS countries, which provide an overall framework for relations between them, including the assistance programme.

Each PCA is a joint commitment for closer co-operation which aims to consolidate its democracy and complete the transition to a market economy. It establishes a political dialogue between the EU and the NIS country concerned, and sets the parameters for trade and harmonised economic relations, financial, social, scientific, technological and cultural co-operation. Detailed guidance on priorities and implementation of the assistance programme comes from PCA Co-operation Councils and Committees.

With this background of mutual interests, it is not surprising that in financial and technical assistance, investment promotion and trade, the EU is the NIS' major partner. As for trade, the EU exported 34 billion euro worth of products to the NIS in 1997, and imported some 32 billion euro, five times the volume of US-NIS trade.

In the case of Russia, beside the PCAs, summits on strategic interests are organised between the Russian and EU presidencies at regular intervals.

Added value of co-operative research

First, research excellence favourably stimulates a country's economic development. From efficient production methods, to many services and financial transactions, there is a prevailing technological base that stems from scientific research and is transferred into advanced knowledge.

Wide-ranging RTD co-operation with the EU can certainly benefit the NIS' economic development, but it is a two-way process. To stay at the forefront of world competition, the EU has to make constant progress in science and technology to keep up with its partners and competitors. Its scientists need to tap into the widest possible spectrum of global researchers to benefit from their scientific expertise, and it must set up consolidated links between different universities, technical colleges and centres of knowledge. Although there is still a wide gap between the NIS countries' potential and their current economic situation, NIS research organisations, including in particular the academies of science in the former Soviet Union, have a recognised excellence in many different fields including aerospace, chemistry, materials, mathematics and physics, nuclear applications, earth sciences, and environment.

Furthermore, the co-operation agreement in the field of S&T research between the EU and Russia will be an important way of intensifying the co-operation between their organisations and scientists.

This special agreement, foreseen in the PCA for Russia, should give improved cohesion for the access of Russian scientists to European programmes, covering the activities of Copernicus-2, INTAS, ISTC and TACIS in S&T, and would ensure EU scientists a reciprocal access to Russian research projects. It also aims to protect intellectual property rights on both sides and would facilitate the exemption from taxes and other duties (import and customs duties, VAT, etc.) in joint research projects.

All this shows that since the beginning of the 90s there has been a tradition of well established co-operation between the scientists from the EU and the NIS in the RTD domain, which is far more fruitful than unilateral technical assistance, but which certainly needs to be pursued and intensified.

Simultaneously helped by the development of information and communication technologies, in the next few years the NIS should be able to play a more active role in the fast-moving, pan-European and even world-wide environment, as such contributing to the 'global laboratory' in which research teams everywhere can co-operate regardless of borders and distance.