Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 21 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /
The European Commission has prepared a mandate to start negotiations on readmission and visa facilitation with Azerbaijan. The document was submitted to the EU Council. It must approve it, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev told Trend.
"This is supposed to be done rapidly," Mammadguliyev said.
He said that the negotiations on the association agreement will be held separately. The preparation is underway.
"The video conferences on the negotiations on the association agreement resumed," he said. "A plenary meeting of the negotiating group is planned to be held in Baku on Oct. 6."
Mammadguliyev said that at present, there are a number of issues. They have not been agreed yet.
"But there is progress on some issues, for example, the third section of the document," he said. "The matter rests in the economic and other sectoral issues."
The Association Agreement includes four areas - political dialogue, including security, justice and human rights protection, economic, social and humanitarian issues and trade.
The last trend will provide an opportunity to export Azerbaijani goods to EU countries in the future.
Azerbaijan has already enjoyed the benefits of duty-free exports for more than 6,000 products to the EU countries. But unfortunately, the main problem is the quality of goods.
Foreign ministers of the three South Caucasus countries participated in the annual session of the European Council for Cooperation with South Caucasus countries in Brussels on September 30, 2009. A decision was made about the prospect of the association membership of these countries to the EU. It is the most effective stimulus to resolve conflicts and to conduct internal reforms in these countries.