The Cold War was a confrontation dominated by dogmatic ideology; the rise of Gorbachev and his attempts to inject new thinking into the Soviet Union were critical in ending that standoff. Generally, Gorbachev  was  successful  in  the  field  of  foreign  policy  and  many  of  his  ideas  and  actions  created  lasting legacies which have shaped the world today. However, one idea which failed to gain much traction was his proposal regarding a Common European Home. The aim of this paper is to examine how  this  opportunity  was  missed  or  why  hasn’t  it  been  taken  advantage  of,  before  moving  on  to  analyse  whether  shared  aims,  freedoms,  values  and  responsibilities  exist  between  Russia  and  the  EU today. Opinion polling shows that Russian values and opinions are complex, but often similar to other post-communist countries that have successfully become European Union member states. The issue of NATO expansion stands out as more problematic than a lack of shared values between the EU and Russian citizens.