Meeting at Rostov-on-Don for their 25th Summit on May 31-June 1, 2010, the European Union and Russia launched a Partnership for Modernisation to the mutual benefit of their citizens.

In a world in which peoples and economies are ever more closely connected and interdependent, modernising our economies and societies becomes ever more important and necessary.

The European Union and Russia, as long-standing strategic partners in a changing multipolar world, are committed to working together to address common challenges with a balanced and result-oriented approach, based on democracy and the rule of law, both at the national and international level. The New European Union - Russia Agreement, which is currently under negotiation, will also provide the basis for achieving these objectives. In this context, the Partnership for Modernisation will serve as a flexible framework for promoting reform, enhancing growth and raising competitiveness, and will build on results achieved so far in the context of the four European Union - Russia Common Spaces, complementing partnerships between European Union Member States and the Russian Federation. The sectoral dialogues will be a key implementation instrument for the Partnership for Modernisation.

The European Union and Russia have a common interest in enhancing bilateral trade and investment opportunities and in facilitating and liberalising trade in the global economy as well as strengthening and developing competition, including through Russia’s early WTO accession.

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