Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Azerbaijan and the European Union seek to strengthen their bilateral ties through cooperating more closely in the energy sector.

Cooperation in energy, transportation, as well as a number of regional transportation projects will be considered during the upcoming meeting of Azerbaijan-EU energy subcommittee.

The meeting of the energy subcommittee between Azerbaijan and the EU will be held on December 14, a diplomatic source told Trend on October 21.

Earlier, Malena Mard, head of the EU delegation in Azerbaijan, voiced hope that a meeting of the Subcommittee on Energy will be before the end of the year.

The European Union and Azerbaijan are strong partners on energy policy and are working together on a number of joint projects. The main project is the building of a pipeline to connect the Caspian oil supply to Europe, providing a viable route for oil and gas to reach consumers. Europe is also supporting Azerbaijan’s state-sponsored program for the increased use of alternative and renewable energy sources.

The EU and Azerbaijan are maintaining relations under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed in 1996 and came into force in 1999.

Since then the PCA has provided the legal framework for EU-Azerbaijan bilateral relations in the areas of political dialogue, trade, investment, economic, legislative and cultural cooperation.

Azerbaijan is also included in the EU program on "Eastern Partnership" adopted on the initiative of Poland and Sweden and approved at the EU summit in Brussels in 2008.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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