EU hopes for broader cooperation

The year of 2016 became significant for the development of cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.

Malena Mard, head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, told reporters on December 15 in Baku.

The decision on continuation of cooperation on a new legal basis was just made in 2016, said Mard adding that bases of this cooperation was laid in 1996 and it was necessary to create a new legal framework for the development of relations.

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 on November 14, which 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 sides will start negotiations in this direction from 2017, Mard added.

Mard also noted that the EU attaches great importance to the development of cooperation with Azerbaijan in the spheres of management effectiveness, economy, energy and others.

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 will define new directions of partnership, such as education and other spheres.

EU is Azerbaijan’s main trade partner with a specific weight of 50 percent. Meanwhile, the EU countries account for 35 percent of nonoil investments.

The share of European countries in Azerbaijan’s foreign trade was 37.12 percent in January-September 2016, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee.

Currently, European countries account for 27.89 and 45.87 percent of Azerbaijani import and export, respectively. European countries mainly deliver vehicles and transportation equipment to Azerbaijan and import oil products.

Azerbaijan has become a country of direct priority to the EU’s strategy in its wider neighborhood since the last enlargement of the European Union in 2007. Azerbaijan affects Europe’s interests, mainly in a regional energy strategy.

Since then, the EU has gradually expanded the scope of its assistance and cooperation with Azerbaijan and the Union has successfully implemented 48 twinning projects in Azerbaijan.