Anastasia Tsvetkova, Director for Development and International Cooperation at Baikal Communications Group, presented her vision on the potential for the EU-Russia cooperation in the field of environment.

The presentation took place at the panel “EU-Russia S&T Cooperation. Related support instruments and future opportunities” within the scientific session of the medical academic cluster “Translational medicine” in St. Petersburg on October 6-8, 2016. Anastasia highlighted key milestones in cooperation between Russia and the EU in the field of environmental protection over the past two decades, in particular, the formal regulation of the dialogue conducted by DG Environment for the EU and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology for the Russian Federation. Among the most successful projects, the speaker underlined initiatives within the Northern Dimension, for example, cooperation between Russia and the Nordic countries in the field of the Baltic Sea protection as well as cooperation on the Arctic, aimed at the preservation of flora and fauna within the framework of the Arctic Council activities. Besides, Anastasia told about the harmonization of ecological standards, the “Civil Defence” project aimed at responding to man-made and natural disasters, one more project aimed at developing the strategy for the management of the Black Sea coastal zone and other cooperation areas.

During the speech, Anastasia concluded that in spite of the current political Russia-EU tensions, ecological agenda continues to be an important communication bridge between Russia and the EU. Firstly, the Russian support of international agreements in the environmental field, such as the Kyoto protocol or the Paris agreement, allows the EU to maintain its ecological leadership. Secondly, there is a profound dialogue between Russia and some member-states of the EU, for example, Germany and Finland, which have a deep common interest in cooperation with Russia in the following areas: sustainable development, energy saving technologies, water resources protection. Thirdly, cooperation is implemented at the academic level. This dialogue is nonpolitical.

The last thesis was confirmed by other reports presented at the conference. Alexis Michel, Counsellor for Science and Technology of the French Embassy in Russia, Richard Burger, Research & Innovation Counsellor, Delegation of the European Union to the Russian Federation, Dr. Martin Krispin, Deputy Head of Office of DAAD and Coordinator of the German House for R&I (DWIH) in Moscow and representatives of the European and Russian research and development organizations told about the current opportunities for enhancing scientific cooperation on various levels – from financial programs coming from the EU Commission to research foundations and organizations support.

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