The EU Commission announced on Wednesday that it has received a new proposal from Russia on how to resolve the dispute over Russia’s export tariffs on raw timber.
The office of EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson signalled that the proposal was the best one so far.
The Commission nevertheless warned that no fast-track solutions are in sight in the dispute.
"There will not be any breakthroughs in the near future", Mandelson’s representative said on Wednesday. The EU Commission will approach the member states this week to inform them of Russia’s latest proposal.
On Wednesday concrete details regarding the content of the Russian proposition were not yet available.
Today, Thursday, Trade Commissioner Mandelson will dine with the Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) Elvira Nabiullina in Lisbon, and the timber export tariffs are one of the guaranteed topics of table conversation. br /> On Friday, representatives of Russia and the EU will hold negotiations at a summit meeting in Mafra near Lisbon.
A definitive solution to the timber tariff problem is not expected, however. The export tariffs are just one of many subjects likely to be touched on at the meeting.
The export tariffs on raw timber imposed by Russia in the spring inconvenience the EU forest industry states, namely Finland and Sweden. The Finnish and Swedish mills and factories use Russian timber as raw material.
Many EU countries are of the opinion that Russia has no business becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), if it is not willing to give up the export tariffs.
