EU representation revealed lies by Belarusian television

Belarusian television misrepresented European Commissioners Stefan Fule’s words.

It is the matter of his speech at the European Parliament’s session on 11 September. In the speech Stefan Fule touched upon the issues of the pressure on the Eastern Partnership countries on the part of Russia. Belarusian Agency of Television News made a report mentioning this speech two days later.

Belarusian television gave Stefan Fule’s words in the following way:

“The EU is first of all interested in its Eastern partners’ traditionally strong ties with Moscow”. According to the official propagandists, the European Commissioner also added, that “Brussels would assists the Customs Union in aligning standards and regulations according to European and international legislation”.

Actually, Stefan Fule’s speech was on quite a different matter. The press-service of EU’s representation in Belarus gives the full text of the speech.

“Customs Union membership is not compatible with the DCFTAs which we have negotiated with Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, and Armenia. This is not because of ideological differences; this is not about a clash of economic blocs, or a zero-sum game. This is due to legal impossibilities: for instance, you cannot at the same time lower your customs tariffs as per the DCFTA and increase them as a result of the Customs Union membership. The new generation of Association Agreements will bring enormous transformative benefits through legal approximation, regulatory convergence, and market liberalization. Independent studies indicate that a DCFTA will bring substantial benefits. Exports to the EU could double over time, leading to increase in GDP of up to approximately 12%. But in order to implement these, our partners must enjoy full sovereignty over their own trade policies, which members of the Customs Union will not.

It may certainly be possible for members of the Eastern Partnership to increase their cooperation with the Customs Union, perhaps as observers; and participation in a DCFTA is of course fully compatible with our partners' existing free trade agreements with other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) states.

Let me emphasize that AA/DCFTAs are not conceived at Russia's expense. On the contrary, Russia will also benefit greatly from the integration of the Eastern Partnership countries into the wider European economy. Our vision is that these agreements should contribute in the long term to the eventual creation of a common economic space from Lisbon to Vladivostok, based on WTO rules.

So we encourage our partners to deepen their ties with Russia, as we do ourselves, but in a way which is compatible with AA/DCFTA obligations. The European Union is ready to work with its neighbors to find ways to promote greater regulatory convergence between the EU and members of the Customs Union”, - Stefan Fule said.