Azerbaijan-EU Cooperation Committee to Meet in Brussels

Azerbaijan, Baku, 7 June / Trend corr I. Khalilova/ "The 9th meeting of the Azerbaijan-EU Cooperation Committee will take place in Brussels on 20 June," Askar Alakbarov, head of the Investment Policy Department of the Azerbaijani Economic Development Ministry, said on 6 June. Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev and Deputy Economic Development Minister Mikayil Jabbarov are Azerbaijan's co-chairmen of the Committee.

The agenda of the meeting includes political, economic and infrastructural issues. ENP, implementation of the ENP action plan which was signed in Brussels in November 2006, approval of the protocols of the 7th meeting of the EU Subcommittee on Trade, Economy and Legal Affairs, as well as of the 3rd meeting of the Subcommittee on Transport & Energy, will be discussed.

Karabakh problem will be considered as well, namely EU actions intended to support the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to solve the conflict.

Presently, Azerbaijan and EU are cooperating within ENP, which 2007-2010 budget envisaged for Azerbaijan totals 92mln euro. The priority directions in the ENP action plan for Azerbaijan is improvement of democracy in the country, improvement of business and investment climate, support to stable economic development, bringing into conformity the economic legislation and management practice, enhancement of cooperation between EU and Azerbaijan in energy and transport fields, regional cooperation, cooperation in the field of boundary management, etc. Arrangements fall into three main priority spheres - improvement of the management system; economic and social reforms; energy, transport, ecology and infrastructure.

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