Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept.18. / Trend N. Ismayilova /
The agreement on a comprehensive free trade among the member-countries proposed by the European Union under the Eastern Partnership would be a stimulus for Azerbaijan to accelerate its membership at the World Trade Organization (WTO), said John Kjaer, the European Commission's Directorate-General for External Relations on Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, at the news conference on Sept.18.
"The main requirement for the countries is to unify legislation in accordance with the requirements of the program and we have put forward four basic requirements, one of which is a membership at the WTO," Kjaer said.
According to Kjaer, currently Azerbaijan is at the stage of negotiations and this agreement may be an incentive for its early completion.
Only Azerbaijan and Belarus from the partner-countries are not the members of WTO, but, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are members of this organization.
The Eastern Partnership is the Polish-Swedish initiative in the neighborhood policy, aimed at improving the EU's relations with the post-Soviet countries. The program was approved at a meeting of the EU on March 20. Eastern Partnership will cover the six countries neighboring the European Union: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus. The program targets assisting talks on establishment of free economic zones and agriculture products, as well as partner and visa agreements.
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