LONDON, October 4 (RIA Novosti) - Current disagreements between European Union members might make the Russia-EU summit that opened in London Tuesday more productive, said a Kremlin official. The source in presidential administration said that Russia and the EU had effectively agreed on visa facilitation and readmission in the six weeks preceding the summit. The source added that the current situation in the EU and the European Commission might have played a role in the negotiations.
He said the EU and the European Commission were "in shock, a psychological knockdown" after the failed referendums on the EU constitution in France and the Netherlands.
The official also said the EU was gradually splitting into two camps. The first camp, associated with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, wanted the EU to evolve into a quasi-state with its own supranational power bodies and insist that it should be independent in international affairs.
The other camp, the official said, including above all Britain, Poland and the Baltic nations, advocate an EU that could develop into a liberal economic zone backing American policy on the international arena.
Another disputable issue is the EU budget, namely funds for agriculture, the source said. France wants to preserve the current system, whereas Britain is in favor of spending on research, advanced technologies and education.
EU members also disagree on the EU's enlargement, in particular, the admission of Turkey, the official said.
This discord within the EU has brought the European Commission under fire for its inability to deal with problems.
"The European Commission, therefore, has to prove its effectiveness," the Kremlin official said.
The best way to show the European Commission is in control is to conduct productive talks with China, Ukraine, and Russia - issues on which the commission agrees.
Vladimir Putin, who arrived in the British capital last night, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, Russia's key ministers and officials, and several European commissioners are all attending the summit.
