Press Release: European Commission approves terms for negotiating new EU–Russia agreement

The European Commission on 3 July 2006 agreed draft negotiating directives for a new EU-Russia Agreement. The Agreement was to provide an updated and more ambitious framework for the EU-Russia relationship. It would be legally binding and would replace the previous EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). The Commission was proposing an agreement which would cover the whole range of EU-Russia co-operation, with a particular focus on progressive deepening and development of trade relations and fair and open development of the energy relationship between the EU and Russia.