Baku, Azerbaijan, June 23
By Anahanum Idayatova – Trend:
In October 2016, the EU will issue Azerbaijan a mandate to start negotiations on a new agreement on strategic partnership, Deputy Head of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev said June 23.
He made the remarks in Baku at the International Conference "Mobility Partnership in Azerbaijan".
Mammad-Guliyev added that a draft agreement on strategic cooperation with Azerbaijan was presented at the EU summit in Riga in 2015. He said that the signing of this agreement will further enhance the level of cooperation between the two sides.
He 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.
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.
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