Azerbaijan preparing new partnership agreement with EU
By Rashid Shirinov
Azerbaijan is preparing a new partnership agreement on cooperation with the European Union until 2020, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Mahmud Mammadguliyev said on June 22.
He made the remarks at a meeting on the role of the GEANT multi-gigabit network in the integration of Azerbaijani science and education in Europe.
The deputy minister said that the document will reflect various areas of cooperation, including in the sphere of science and education.
“Work on the preparation of the document will be completed in the coming days. The document will be submitted to the EU in July,” added Mammadguliyev.
He noted that Azerbaijan and the EU have signed many documents that cover various areas, including education and science. However, there is no intensive activity in this area, apart from individual projects in which the country’s universities participate.
“Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Europe continues at a very positive level. Negotiations are underway to prepare a new agreement on strategic cooperation with the EU. It covers three areas: politics and security, trade and investment, and the third direction is sectoral, which covers such areas as energy, economy, transport, science, etc.,” said Mammadguliyev.
He added that Azerbaijan intends to draw attention to this strategic document through other partnership agreements, one of which is the document of partnership until 2020.
In November 2016, the European Council adopted a mandate for the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to negotiate, on behalf of the EU and its member states, a comprehensive agreement with Azerbaijan.
The new agreement should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today. The agreement will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighborhood Policy and will offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.
---
Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz