EU trade relations with Russia. Facts, figures and latest developments.
Following Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military invasion of Ukraine, the EU has imposed sanctions on Russia. Details can be found here:
EU restrictive measures in response to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine
Until 24 February 2022, Russia was one of the main trade partners of the European Union.
Since 1997, the EU's political and economic relations with Russia have been based on a bilateral Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). The trade-relevant sections of the PCA aim to promote trade and investment, as well as to develop mutually beneficial economic relations.
Since 2012, when Russia joined the WTO, EU-Russia trade relations have also been framed by WTO multilateral rules.
Since 2014, the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia and its destabilising role in eastern Ukraine have seriously affected EU-Russia relations. As a result, some of the policy dialogues and mechanisms of cooperation, including in the area of trade, have been suspended.
Following further Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the European Union has adopted unprecedented measures that aim to significantly weaken Russia's economic base, depriving it of critical technologies and markets, and thereby significantly curtailing its ability to wage war.
Please note that the following figures reflect the situation in 2021, before recent trade-related sanctions began to have an effect.
The 1997 PCA remains the general framework for EU-Russia trade relations. Negotiations for a New EU-Russia Agreement started in 2008, but were put on hold in 2010 owing to the lack of progress in the Trade and Investment Chapter. In March 2014, the European Council suspended the negotiations due to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
Russia’s accession to the WTO in 2012 raised the expectations that trade with Russia would benefit from sustained liberalisation. Instead, Russia has progressively put in place numerous measures favouring domestic products and services over foreign ones, and incentivising localisation of production in Russia by foreign companies.
This import substitution policy has been continually expanded. As a result, EU exporters have either been pushed out of the market or been obliged to relocate production to Russia. Related measures often contravene WTO rules and cause many trade irritants. Some of these have triggered WTO dispute settlement procedures:
In July 2014, in response to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, the EU adopted a set of restrictive measures against Russia targeting four economic sectors: access to finance, arms, dual-use goods and specific technologies for oil production and exploration.
In August 2014, Russia reacted by introducing a political ban on imports of a range of EU agricultural and food products. The product scope was further extended in October 2017. More information is available here.
In February 2022, following further military aggression in Ukraine by Russia, the EU adopted additional sanctions targeting the energy, transport, technology and financial sectors, as well as imposing restrictive measures on individuals.
In addition, as of 15 March, the EU, in collaboration with the G7 countries and other like-minded partners, stopped treating Russia as a Most-Favoured-Nation within the WTO framework. This deprives Russia of key trade advantages as a WTO member.
In 2010, Russia created a Customs Union with Kazakhstan and Belarus. This Customs Union became the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in 2015. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan joined the EAEU the same year. Russia represents almost 90% of the EAEU’s GDP.
The EAEU has legal competence in policy areas such as customs, competition, trade defence, agricultural and industrial product regulation, intellectual property rights and foreign trade. At the same time, semi-uniform EAEU technical regulations lack enforcement mechanisms and create additional barriers for trade.
The Commission maintained a technical dialogue with the executive branch of the EAEU – Eurasian Economic Commission – until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trade with Russia is heavily restricted by EU sanctions. Practical guidelines on the import and export restrictions in force can be found below.
