Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22
By Ilaha Mammadli - Trend:
The next round of negotiations on the new comprehensive partnership agreement between the European Union (EU) and Azerbaijan will be held in Baku next week, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev told Trend May 22.
“The negotiations that started last year successfully continue in three main areas: political and security issues, trade and investment issues and various sectoral issues,” Mammad-Guliyev said.
He noted that political issues will be discussed at the next meeting.
The last round of talks took place in early May.
In November 2016, the EU Council issued a mandate to 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 new agreement should replace the partnership and cooperation agreement of 1996, which would make it possible to take greater account of the common goals and challenges facing the EU and Azerbaijan today.
The agreement will comply with the principles approved in 2015 in the document of the European Neighborhood Policy and will offer an updated basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.
At present, 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 provides for the approximation of Azerbaijan's legislation and procedures to the most important international and trade norms and standards of the EU, which should lead to improved access of Azerbaijani products to the EU markets.