EU FMs to eye new EU-Azerbaijan partnership agreement
By Gunay Hasanova
The foreign ministers of EU will discuss in Brussels the preparation of a new agreement on the partnership with Azerbaijan.
The discussion will take place at a meeting of foreign ministers at the EU Council in the framework of the discussion on the "Eastern Partnership”, which will be held in Brussels on November 14.
A mandate to start negotiations on the new EU-Azerbaijan Strategic Partnership Agreement may be issued until the end of 2016, said Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister in an interview with Trend on November 4.
Currently, bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan are regulated on the basis of an agreement on partnership and cooperation that was signed in 1996 and entered into force in 1999.
Azerbaijan initiated to sign an agreement on strategic
modernized partnership with the EU instead of the agreement about
the association. This is not a legal document, but rather a
program, a plan of action aimed at the expansion of cooperation
with the EU beyond energy. The new agreement will define new
directions of partnership such as education and other spheres.
The new agreement envisages the compliance of Azerbaijan’s
legislation and procedures with the EU’s most important
international and trade norms and standards, which should lead to
the improvement of Azerbaijani goods’ access to the EU markets.
Currently, the EU is Azerbaijan’s major trade partner. The share of European countries in Azerbaijan’s foreign trade was 37.12 percent in January-September 2016, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee.
Currently, European countries account for 27.89 and 45.87 percent of Azerbaijani import and export, respectively. European countries mainly deliver vehicles and transportation equipment to Azerbaijan and import oil products.
Azerbaijan has become a country of direct priority to the EU’s strategy in its wider neighborhood since the last enlargement of the European Union in 2007. Azerbaijan affects Europe’s interests, mainly in a regional energy strategy.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
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