mr president the model of power sharing between the state and the members of society determines the content of political decisions while the predictability of the decision-making process and the correct enforcement of decisions are guaranteed by the honesty professionalism and independence of the judiciary
the european union and russia can do business together only if there is compatibility between their power-sharing models their decision-making mechanisms and their judiciary systems
the achievement of such compatibility is an exercise in partnership and cooperation in consensus confidence and interoperability-building not in advocacy lecturing and finger-pointing
russia is a full member of the council of europe and a signatory to the european convention on human rights
consequently it is the council of europe that has competence to look into the functioning of democracy and the rule of law in russia
the european union should therefore rely on the council of europe in order to achieve together with russia a common area of freedom democratic security and justice
moreover since the european union is itself on the way towards accession to the european convention on human rights it should use its future status as a party to that convention to accelerate convergence and interoperability with russia in the field of democracy and the rule of law
years ago when the european parliament had little more power than a militant ngo its only tools were the rhetoric of naming and shaming
today after lisbon we are a powerful political institution
this imposes on us more responsibility pragmatism and self-restraint
we should not let ourselves be led by emotions
we should not be casual with our values either
we are not allowed to be simultaneously prosecutor and judge
we should not act on the basis of mere allegations rumours or various interest lobby groups
our credibility generated by the fairness and maturity of our approach as well as our firmness and openness is the best weapon we have in our dialogue with russia at a time when our citizens have instructed us to develop a strategic partnership with russia not to restart the cold war
