Introduction

One year before the EU accession of ten new Member States, the May 2003 Saint-Petersburg EU–Russia Summit launched the aim of creating four Common Spaces, namely a Common Economic Space; a Common Space of Freedom, Security and Justice; a Common Space of External Security and a Common Space of Research and Education, including Cultural Aspects. The Council and the Commission later confirmed the EU's intention to develop the Common Spaces concept as ‘an extensive basis’ for strengthening the EU–Russia Strategic Partnership. The central aim of this new framework is to reinforce the bilateral relationship on the basis of a mutually agreed agenda for further action. In this respect, the May 2005 Moscow EU–Russia Summit adopted a single package of road maps with approximately 400 points for regulatory cooperation.

This first manifestation of a joint, issues-based agenda – replacing the EU's 1999 unilateral Common Strategy – has opened a new chapter in EU–Russia relations. Possible linkages between different action points open up new opportunities for pragmatic cooperation and progress. The parallel conclusion of two bilateral agreements on visa facilitation, a long-standing Russian desire, and readmission, an old priority for the EU, illustrates the potential of this new approach. This observation, however, does not conceal the existence of numerous question marks surrounding the Common Spaces programme. A first major question entails the legal nature of the Common Spaces and the framework for the implementation of the road maps.