The Department of European Countries is a structural subdivision of the central staff of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, responsible for developing Russia’s bilateral economic cooperation with the countries of Europe and the European Union.
Functions of the Department of European Countries:
developing Russia’s bilateral economic cooperation with European countries and the European Union in accordance with the priorities of the Foreign Economic Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2020;
cooperating with the European Union in the foreign economic sphere, including in the implementation of the Concept for the Common Economic Space between Russia and the EU; developing and modernizing the contractual legal framework on economic relations with the European Union, preparing an economic section for a new Russia-EU framework agreement, participating in the preparation of Russia-EU summits and meetings between the Government of the Russian Federation and the European Commission;
ensuring the implementation and preparation of new international treaties and agreements between the Russian Federation and European countries on foreign economic relations, the holding of respective negotiations and consultations, and monitoring the performance of obligations arising out of such treaties and agreements;
preparing national plans of action, concepts, forecasts, programs and proposals in the sphere of trade and economic cooperation with European countries;
participating in the preparation of proposals to establish and develop relations with international economic organizations, including the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC), the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC);
analyzing the economic situation, foreign trade and economic activities and measures to regulate such activities in European countries with a view to using their positive experience in Russia;
protecting the economic, trade and political interests of the Russian Federation in European countries;
promoting favorable conditions for boosting relations between the regions of the Russian Federation and European countries;
supporting the implementation of projects on trade, economic and investment cooperation, as well as joint cooperative projects, including in the sphere of innovation and cluster creation;
participating in the implementation of programs on technical cooperation with European countries;
preparing foreign economic aspects of negotiations with European countries and the EU, including on top and high levels, as well as preparing materials on matters of economic cooperation for the visits by official and business delegations from Europe to the Russian Federation;
developing proposals on settling the debt obligations of the Russian Federation in relations with European counties, along with proposals to balance settlements with them;
overseeing the performance of Russia’s trade representations in European countries;
promoting, in cooperation with the trade representations of the Russian Federation in European countries, the expansion and diversification of the Russian export of products and services, providing the participants of foreign economic activities with relevant information with a view to promoting Russia’s export and investment projects with European countries;
providing, in cooperation with Russia’s trade representations in European countries, information support and promotion for Russian participants in foreign economic activities on matters related to the protection of their economic interests on European markets in the event of the introduction – or the threat of the introduction – by European countries or the EU of tariff or non-tariff protective measures of a non-trade nature, as well as on the prevention of the disclosure of such investigations;
supporting, in cooperation with Russia’s trade representations in European countries, Russian participants in foreign economic activities in settling their bilateral, multilateral, regional trade and investment disputes with a view to securing the indiscriminate and favorable access for Russian goods and services to international markets, as well as the prompt detection of trade and investment barriers in the countries of Europe;
participating, within the Department’s competence, in drafting regulations on matters related to the improvement of the system of Russia’s trade representations;
submitting proposals to optimize the structure and staff numbers of the trade representations of the Russian Federation in European countries; participating in determining the criteria for the assessment of their professional skills and competitive staffing for work in Russia’s trade representations in European countries and organizing respective internships;
examining the expediency of sending representatives of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, federal executive agencies and organizations to work in Russia’s trade representatives in European countries;
conducting, in cooperation with the Ministry’s other structural subdivisions, a comprehensive analysis of the activities of Russia’s trade representations in European countries and submitting proposals to enhance their performance, including the preparation of opinions on annual reports which cover the operational activities of Russia’s trade representations in European countries;
developing Russia’s position on matters considered at the sessions of the intergovernmental commissions on trade and economic cooperation with European countries (Intergovernmental Commissions), coordinating the activities of the Russian participants of the Intergovernmental Commissions and their secretariats with European countries, controlling the implementation of the Intergovernmental Commissions’ decisions and recommendations, coordinating the activities of federal executive authorities and the Ministry’s structural subdivisions on matters related to the Intergovernmental Commissions’ activities;
inviting the representatives of federal executive authorities, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, Russian organizations and business entities to cooperate with the Intergovernmental Commissions;
preparing and organizing the sessions of the Intergovernmental Commissions, as well as the sessions of their working bodies; preparing proposals to boost their efficiency;
re-orienting the Intergovernmental Commissions’ work on implementing specific cooperation projects, their support for developing the Russian economy;
submitting, according to the established procedure, proposals on the creation, liquidation and suspension of the Intergovernmental Commissions’ activities, on the optimization of their structure, based on the nomination of the chairpersons for the Russian sections of the Intergovernmental Commissions, as well as on the formation of the Russian sections of the Intergovernmental Commissions and their secretariats, including interdepartmental secretariats which involve the representatives of federal executive agencies, executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, unions and associations of the Russian business community;
participating in the reception of foreign delegations arriving in the Russian Federation, and submitting proposals on sending the delegations of the Russian Federation to the countries of Europe and the EU;
cooperating with embassies and trade and economic representations of the countries of Europe and the EU in the Russian Federation, with ministries, departments, organizations and companies of those countries, as well as with the representations of international organizations in the Russian Federation and abroad;
preparing the guidelines and procedures, information and analytical materials on matters within the Department’s terms of reference;
working to create the Ministry’s information systems and databases, and disseminating information on economic cooperation with the countries of Europe;
forming orders for research and applied economic studies by research institutions on a competitive basis.
