EU AND RUSSIA ENERGY TRADE: IMPACT OF WTO, TRANSIT AND INTEGRATED ECONOMIC AREAS

1. EU AND RUSSIA ENERGY TRADE:IMPACT OF WTO, TRANSIT AND INTEGRATED ECONOMIC AREAS Dmitry K. Labin, Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department of International Law at MGIMO University, Attorney at law, Arbiter of the Arbitration Tribunal of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Russia www.labin.ru

2. Issues • Introduction: Russia accession to WTO • WTO law and International Law • Legal nature of natural resources • Regulation of trade in energy products under the WTO rules • Some practical issues

3. Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization • singed on the 14th of April 1994 • entry into force since the 1st of January 1995 • 157 Member States • Russia accessed onthe 22nd of August 2012

4. WTO main principles • trade without discrimination • further liberalization of tradethrough the multilateral trade negotiations • predictable market access, including rules on mutual obligations of States and transparency • fair competition in international trade • encouragement for institutional development and economic reforms with the special and differential treatment for developing countries, and • a number of key institutional and procedural rules relating to dispute settlement

5. Sources of WTO law • Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO • numerous other agreements and understandings included in the annexes to this basic agreement • other relevant international conventions • customary international law • general principles of law and • both judicial decisions and teachings of the most highly qualified publicists as subsidiary means

6. Legal nature of energy resources Statuses of natural resources undiscovered resources in the subsoil explored, but not extracted resources extracted resources

7. Sovereign rights of a State over natural resources ARTICLE 2.1 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly 3281 (XXIX). Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States ARTICLE 2 Every state has and shall freely exercise full permanent sovereignty, including possession, use and disposal, over all its wealth, natural resources and economic activities. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.

8. Regulation of trade in energy products under the WTO rules GATT Agreement • Article Ion the general most-favored nation regime. • Article Von the freedom of transit • Article VIon the application of anti-dumping and countervailing duties in the case of subsidies • Article XIon the prohibition of quantitative restrictions on the import / export

9. Practical issues • The problem of coordination in setting global oil prices • WTO, Russia and the integration areas. The issue of export duties • Russia and the EU - energy sector perspectives

10. Conclusions and recommendations • to set the same fair rules for the exporting and importing energy products countries and • make sure that they are applied coherently on a constant universal basis and are not invoked only when it is to the benefits of one actor and ignored otherwise