Vested and Invested Interests: The Role of Investment Protection in EU-Russia Relations

Relations between the European Union and Russia have lately been improving. After years with a turbulent stop-go relation, fraught by Russian assertiveness and unpredictability, and the Kremlin’s desire to regain its regional power, there are signs that the Russian leadership is warming up to a new approach that is more constructive and aims for deeper integration with world and European markets through new commercial policy deals. The crisis, which hit Russia hard, has forced upon Russia a more realistic notion about its economic statecraft and approach to foreign economic relations. Russia has reissued its application to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) alone (and not as a Customs Union together with Belarus and Kazakhstan), and communicated a willingness to join the WTO sooner rather than later. And it has signaled an interest to press ahead with negotiations with the EU over commercial policy. The first step towards that end is a new Partnership for Modernization.