Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 4
By Anakhanum Hidayatova – Trend:
The next round of negotiations on a new agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan is foreseen to take place in Baku towards the end of April, Maja Kocijancic, European External Action Service (EEAS) spokesperson, told Trend Apr. 4.
“The new agreement will offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan,” she noted.
The first meeting on a new agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan was held in Brussels on Feb. 7, 2017.
The European Council 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 in November 2016.
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.
The agreement will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighborhood Policy and offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.
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.
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