Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Baku hosted a one-day international conference "Mobility Partnership in Azerbaijan", serving as a support for the expansion of cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan and their joint activities as the partners.

The conference organized by the European Commission and the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan on June 23, was attended by Head of the EU delegation to Baku Malena Mard, Deputy Head of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev and representatives of EU diplomatic missions accredited in Azerbaijan.

Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev, addressing the event, stated that the EU will issue Azerbaijan a mandate to start negotiations on a new agreement on strategic partnership this October.

He reminded that a draft agreement on the strategic cooperation with Azerbaijan was presented at the EU summit in Riga in 2015, adding that the signing of this agreement will further enhance the level of cooperation between the two sides.

The diplomat further noted that in the second half of 2016, it is planned to hold meetings of the subcommittees on Azerbaijan in the EU. “We also plan to continue negotiations on the agreement with the EU in the field of aviation,” said Mammad-Guliyev.

Project Coordinator of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Violeta Wagner, in turn, said that Azerbaijan is an important partner of the EU, and the official structures of the country are interested in cooperation with the EU in the field of mobility.

Speaking at the event, Malena Mard expressed confidence that this conference reinforces the idea put forward by Federica Mogherini, high representative of the union for for­eign affairs and security policy, highlighted during her last visit to Baku.

“The European Union and Azerbaijan have confirmed once again their will­ingness to move forward in many ar­eas of cooperation, working together as partners and looking to develop relations to their full potential,” Mogherini said during that visit.

The EU ambassador expressed her trust that “MOBILAZE project is an example of deep and mutually beneficial cooperation between Azerbaijan and the European Union”.

The Joint Declaration on a Mobility Partnership (MP) between Azerbaijan and the EU and its participating Member States was signed in December 2013. The success and positive achievements of the MP are determined mainly by the full commitment of all parties involved and initiatives/projects funded and implemented under the MP.

The parties are currently working on an agreement on strategic partnership, and it will be continued within the EU structures, Mard further said.

"We expect that in the early autumn will be a series of meetings at the subcommittee level, during which we will have the opportunity to discuss Azerbaijan-EU cooperation issues. The first meeting at the subcommittee level, will begin in early September. It will be a very intense autumn between the EU and Azerbaijan. We hope that all the meetings at the level of sub-committees will take place in autumn," Mard emphasized.

Currently, bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan are regulated on the basis of the partnership and cooperation agreement which was signed in 1996 and entered into force in 1999.

The new agreement envisages bringing Azerbaijan's legislation and procedures closer to the most important international and trade standards of the EU. This process is meant to improve the access of Azerbaijani products to the EU markets.

Mard further added that the EU and Azerbaijan are ready to start negotiations on the signing of an agreement on a common aviation area.

"This agreement will benefit both Azerbaijan and the EU in terms of increased competition in the aviation sector. Recently Azerbaijan has signed an agreement on Open Skies with the U.S. The EU looks forward to the start of negotiations on the agreement," the ambassador said.

The Open Skies agreement is aimed at liberalizing the air transport market between the parties and will simplify the process of organizing flights between the EU and Azerbaijan and will promote the growth of the number of commercial flights.

The deal provides for the elimination of state interference in business decisions on routes and pricing of the airlines, which allows operators to provide more accessible and efficient services for passenger and cargo services.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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