Azerbaijan, EU may soon complete negotiations on new agreement

By Leman Mammadova

The European Union (EU) continues to provide assistance to Azerbaijan in addressing many challenges that the country face today and cooperation between the parties is on the verge of a new phase that will raise the relations to a higher level.

Baku hosted a conference on "Strengthening the institutional and administrative capacity of the Chamber of Accounts of the Republic of Azerbaijan" on April 29.

Speaking at conference, Wojciech Kutyla, Vice-President of the Supreme Audit Office of Poland, said that since the launch of the twinning project 'Strengthening the institutional and administrative capacity of the Chamber of Accounts of the Republic of Azerbaijan jointly developed with the EU, 23 out of 52 subprojects were implemented.

He noted that the project, which has been implemented since November 2017, was divided into four major components, and 32 employees passed trainings since the beginning of the project.

Kutyla stressed that the main objective of the project is to promote the possibilities for implementing the mandate of the Chamber of Accounts and ensuring transparency in the financial sector of Azerbaijan.

The total cost of the project is 1.4 million euros, and the duration is 27 months. Technical support for the project's implementation is provided by Poland and the Supreme Audit Office of Poland.

The EU is the main foreign investor and trading partner of Azerbaijan. Since 1992, the EU has provided about 600 million euros to Azerbaijan within the framework of Twinning, TAIEX, Budget Support Instruments. Azerbaijan takes the first place in the region on twinning projects.

Twinning programs are implemented in the context of the EU's Eastern Partnership and Neighborhood Policy and intend to support the organizational structure process in line with European standards.

In his speech at the conference, Kestutis Jankauskas, head of the EU delegation in Azerbaijan said that Azerbaijan and the EU may complete negotiations on a new agreement on strategic partnership in May, adding that last week negotiations on trade issues were held.

He noted that a meeting dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Eastern Partnership program will be held in Brussels in May.

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.

Currently, bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan are based on the EU-Azerbaijan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed in 1996 (entered into force in 1999), covering many areas from trade to education.

The new agreement should replace the agreement of 1996, and should better take account of the common goals and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today.

Azerbaijan wants an agreement based on political equality with the EU. The EU recognizes the need to choose a differentiated approach to its neighbors. This means that Azerbaijan can benefit from the EU's political association and economic integration offerings at its own discretion.

The new agreement envisages 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.

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.

The first meeting to discuss the document took place on April 25, 2017.

The agreement will cover political, sectoral, trade and economic relations including science and education. Political cooperation will be more crucial. In addition, the economic and energy sectors are also essential.

Azerbaijan and EU successfully cooperate in various fields, and relations are constantly developing. To date, important documents such as Partnership and Cooperation, Visa and Readmission Agreements, Action Plan under the European Neighborhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership Initiative have been signed that raised relations to a higher level.

The EU holds the main place in the foreign trade turnover of Azerbaijan. There are more than 1,500 European companies in Azerbaijan. Over the past six years, European countries have invested about $16 billion in Azerbaijan's economy.

Energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and the EU,launched in 2006,is especially noticeable.Azerbaijan, as the initiator and active participant of such large projects as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and the Southern Gas Corridor, is a reliable energy partner of the EU.

EU supports the energy projects implemented in South Caucasus and is interested in supplying Caspian hydrocarbon resources to Europe, as it favors diversification of the energy sources necessary to ensure Europe's energy security.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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