Asked when the EU would decide to resume the talks, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said: “I hope very much that will be before the Nov 14,” referring to a long-scheduled EU-Russia summit in Nice, France, Reuters reports. It was believed that the EU leaders would end up supporting a proposal on resumed talks in November. However, EU President France failed to convince all its partners to agree to this. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner — who is preparing the “audit” of EU-Russia ties — said she expected to have it ready in time for EU foreign ministers to make a decision on the issue on November 10. The EU halted the newly resumed talks with Russia over a new agreement after the country’s incursion in Georgia. Several member states, among them Sweden, Great Britain, Poland and the three Baltic states, have opposed the rapid restart of negotiations. The EU-Russia negotiations will eventually end up in a new cooperation agreement, which is to replace the 1997 Partnership Agreement.
