European Parliament
Raül Romeva i Rueda  (Verts/ALE ),
in writing.
In favour. This bilateral agreement with the Russian Federation was negotiated in the framework of the process of the Federation’s accession to the World Trade Organization. It was submitted to Parliament for consent, which is a prerequisite for the official conclusion of the agreement by the Council.
In the context of its accession to the WTO, the Russian Federation has committed to reducing gradually or eliminating its existing export duties on a list of raw materials. These commitments regarding export duty rates have been included in Russia’s Schedule of Concessions and Commitments on Goods. However, the Russian understanding is that the list in the schedule does not preclude any new or additional export duties on any raw materials not included therein. It is in order to prevent such new export duty restrictions that the EU negotiated this agreement with Russia.

