On 18 January 2020, Alexander Stuglev,
Chairman of the Board and CEO of the Roscongress Foundation held a working
meeting in Berlin with a regional partner of the Roscongress Foundation,
Michael Harms, CEO of the German Committee on Eastern European Economic
Relations. During the meeting, the parties discussed joint participation in the
Roscongress Foundation initiative ‘From Lisbon to Vladivostok’, supporting the
idea of creating a common economic area between the Eurasian Economic Union
and the European Union.
According to Alexander Stuglev, Chairman of
the Board and CEO of the Roscongress Foundation, an important objective today
to increase the global competitiveness of Europe and Eurasia is to create a
common economic area from Lisbon to Vladivostok and foster cooperation between
the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, inclusive of the role of
the Russian Federation in this process.
A Memorandum on Cooperation
and Joint Activities to promote the idea of pan-European integration from
Lisbon to Vladivostok was signed on 14 April 2016 in Moscow.
The first signatories were Alexander
Stuglev, Chairman of the Board, CEO, Roscongress Foundation; Jean-Pierre Thomas,
President, Thomas Vendome Investment; Antonio Fallico, Chairman of the Board,
Bank Intesa; and Ulf Schneider, Managing Partner, SCHNEIDER GROUP. The parties
advocated for an official dialogue between the European Union and the Eurasian
Economic Union to agree on norms and rules governing international business and
trade, in particular in relation to customs, technical regulations, the visa
regime and mobility.
In 2016–2019 the Memorandum was signed by
representatives of another 16 Russian and foreign organizations. In January
2020, the Business Council of the Eurasian Economic Union joined the
Memorandum.
To institutionalize the Memorandum, it was
decided to create the Supervisory, Advisory and Expert Councils of the
Memorandum.
In January 2020, the Supervisory Board of
the Memorandum was headed by Klaus Mangold, Chairman, Mangold Consulting GmbH, while
Sergey Karaganov, Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International
Affairs, Higher School of Economics, took up the position of Chairman of the
Advisory Board.
Discussions are currently being held on
expanding the provisions of the Moscow Memorandum into the area from the
Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Greater Eurasian Partnership. The
founding organizations regularly hold events to promote ideas related to the
development of a common economic area between the Eurasian Economic Union and
the European Union.
Meetings on the topic ‘From the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean’ are held separately in the business programmes of key discussion platforms organized by the Roscongress Foundation in Russia – the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the Eastern Economic Forum. In addition, the topic is being raised at the Foundation’s events abroad. The next event will take place at SPIEF 2020, which will be held in St. Petersburg from 3 to 6 June.
