EU completes plenary discussions on Association Agreement with Azerbaijan

The European Union is holding the latest round of plenary discussions on Association Agreement negotiations with Azerbaijan, head of the European Union delegation on negotiations on Association Agreement, John Kjaer, told journalists on Friday.

"We have the latest round of [plenary on] the Association Agreement negotiations", Kjaer said. The department, headed by Kjaer, functions under the European Neighbourhood Policy, and covers the countries of Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, particularly Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine.

He is with the two-day visit in Baku to finish plenary sessions on Association Agreement.

"The way that we structure these negotiations is that we have plenary discussions and working groups which will work either in connection with the plenary, or through special meetings which we use very often, video-conference," he said.

The negotiations on the Association Agreement with the South Caucasian countries started in July, 2010. The Agreement is based on joint commitment to develop common values and cover a wide range of areas, including political dialogue, justice, freedom and security, as well as issues of trade and cooperation.

There are four dimensions which the Agreement is based on with four working groups focusing on politics, economy, human rights and democracy, and trade accordingly.

"We have made very good progress and we enable to sustain the progress," Kjaer said.

Nowadays the work is being undertaken mainly in first two working groups which deals with political and energy dimensions, he said. Third and fourth working groups are yet behind.

The EU has some constraints concerning the progress in fourth working group which is trade, Kjaer said.

WTO membership is one of the core requirements for further progress in trade cooperation between the EU and partner countries, including establishing a comprehensive free trade zone the Association Agreement envisages.

Azerbaijan still has observer status in the Organization.

Speaking about the recent Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw, Kjaer said it demonstrated very well that it is on track. "It is delivering, appreciating, and it is a very good political framework for our relations," he underscored.


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