VERONA, 28 October (BelTA) - An idea to create a partnership from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean has been frozen by the European Union, Pasquale Terracciano, Italy's Ambassador to Russia until 2021, said at the 14th Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona, BelTA has learned.
Pasquale Terracciano recalled that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, hopes were high for the rapprochement of the West and the East. "But some EU member states have resisted high-level talks," he said.
Nevertheless, even despite this resistance, contacts at the technical level between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union began in 2017. "This led to certain results: EU and EAEU standards were converged in 12 sectors," he stated. "This is a small example of what we could have achieved if there was at least minimal partnership and cooperation between the EU and the EAEU."
The 14th Eurasian Economic Forum is running in Verona, Italy on 28-29 October and has brought together prominent politicians businessmen and public figures from many countries of Europe and Asia. Participants are discussing a wide range of practical topical issues in economy and finance, healthcare, environment, energy and technological innovations in the greater Eurasia space, united this year by the theme: “Eurasia on its Path to a New Geopolitical, Social, and Economic Order: Transition to a New, Human-Centered Economy”.
The forum has opened with the special session “Structural Changes in the Economy and the Future of Energy”. The first day of the program will be devoted to energy transition, circular economy and the green economy. The second day will feature discussions on the impact of the pandemic on the banking and financial sector, technological innovation and the digital transition, and also the role of the pharmaceutical industry in the modern economy and debates on overcoming the neoliberal model.
The Eurasian Economic Forum in Verona has been organized by the Conoscere Eurasia Association, the Roscongress Foundation and St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
