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EU to launch negotiations on new agreement with Azerbaijan

Economy Materials 14 November 2016 16:57 (UTC +04:00)
The European Council has 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
EU to launch negotiations on new agreement with Azerbaijan

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 14

Trend:

The European Council has 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 message on the council’s website said.

“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,” said the message.

“It will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighbourhood Policy and offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan,” the message noted.

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.

The new agreement envisages the compliance of Azerbaijan’s legislation and procedures with the EU’s most important international trade norms and standards, which should lead to the improvement of Azerbaijani goods’ access to the EU markets.

The EU is Azerbaijan’s major trade partner.

Azerbaijan initiated to sign an agreement on strategic modernized partnership with the EU instead of the agreement about association. The document is 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.

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