№071. EU-Russia - Four Common Spaces and the Proliferation of the Fuzzy - Emerson, Michael (CEPS Centre for European Policy Studies, 2005)
On the 10th of May the EU and Russia signed four 'roadmap' documents at summit level in Moscow, on the Common Economic Space, the Common Space of Freedom, Security and Justice, the Common Space of External Security and the Common Space on Research, Education and Culture. This was the culmination of two year's work since the May 2003 summit that decided in principle to create the four spaces as a long-term project. It was intended also to give new momentum to the relationship, after seeing that the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1994 had not become a motor for anything very substantial, while the subsequent phase (in 1999) of swapping common strategy documents also led nowhere in particular. Does this new attempt to give structure and momentum to the relationship do something more substantial? Does it mark a new era in the relationship? Does it bear any relationship to the massive symbolism on display in Moscow the day before, as world leaders joined in the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II? Date of Publishing: May 1, 2005
Keywords: International relations/trade