Final Statement and Recommendations of EU – Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee

Seventh Meeting
13-14 December 2006
Strasbourg

Pursuant to Article 89 of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement

Under the co-chairmanship of Mrs ISLER BEGUIN (Greens/EFA, France) and Mr Valeh ALESKEROV, Deputy Speaker of the Milli Mejlis, the seventh meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee was held in Strasbourg on 13-14 December 2006. The Committee exchanged views with Mr Mahmud MAMMAD-GULIYEV, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mrs Sevinj HASANOVA, Deputy Minister for Economic Development, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr Klaus KORHONEN, Deputy Director General, Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, on behalf of the Finnish Presidency-in-Office of the European Union and Mr Giuseppe BUSINI, responsible for Azerbaijan in DG RELEX, on behalf of the European Commission.

The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee

EU-Azerbaijan relations

1. reiterates its strongly-held view that the people of Azerbaijan share a common destiny with other peoples of Europe, and that closer relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the European Union, including further mutual enrichment of values, are in the common interest of both partners, requiring adoption, implementation and promotion of the commonly-shared values of democracy and respect for human rights all over Europe;

2. stresses that mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of international borders demonstrated by Azerbaijan and the EU Member States will help to strengthen stability, prosperity and good neighbourly relations in the South Caucasus and in Europe on the whole;

3. welcomes the European aspirations expressed by Azerbaijan and considers the European Neighbourhood Policy as an important instrument in fostering the EU-Azerbaijan political, economic and trade relations, and calls on the European Commission to assist Azerbaijan in achieving the objectives of the ENP Action Plan;

4. welcomes the adoption on 14 November 2006 of the ENP Action Plan; calls upon the European Commission and Azerbaijani authorities to focus on the priority areas while recognising the need to raise the public awareness of European common values and culture among population of Azerbaijan and EU; stresses the importance of enhancing opportunities for promoting human rights education, youth development and training of policy-makers, officials and civil society in the country, thus contributing to the emergence of a new generation of leaders committed to common values;

5. welcomes the signature, on 7 November 2006 in Brussels, of a Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership between the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan in the field of energy, which will contribute to the efforts of the EU member states with regard to diversification of the energy sources and routes, as well as to the development and modernisation of energy infrastructure, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in Azerbaijan;

6. expresses its support for the proposal from Azerbaijan on the extension of a strategic partnership to the fields of education and research, agriculture, and transport; in this regard, is in favour of continuing the scientific cooperation with Azerbaijan under the EU Seventh Framework Programme, and underlines the importance of promoting people-to-people contacts between the EU and Azerbaijan, including the facilitation of visa procedures for students, scientists and young people;

7. strongly reiterates its call on the Commission to open a fully operational Delegation in Baky in 2007, which will increase the effectiveness of the EU's activities in Azerbaijan;

8. recalls the need for the European Commission to continue to support areas that will help the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan to improve the investment climate in the country, and recognises the assistance from the European Commission that has already been given to Azerbaijan in the context of business development; strongly encourages the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan to accelerate the fulfilment of its own commitments in this area and to continue tackling the corruption that discourages investment;

9. expresses its satisfaction with the opening of the Baky-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and attaches great importance to the speed completion of Baky-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline construction, which will promote economic and trade development in the region as well as enhance the safety and security of energy supplies and transit systems from Azerbaijan and the Caspian basin to the EU market;

10. underlines again the importance of the full implementation of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which remains the cornerstone and legal basis of the EU-Azerbaijan relationship;

11. welcomes the steps taken to date by the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the process of accession to the WTO and supports further efforts that must be taken; calls on the European Commission to provide the necessary assistance to this end; underlines the need to accelerate negotiations on WTO accession;


Respect for human rights and the rule of law

12. expresses the need for the EC to continue requiring technical assistance to Azerbaijan aimed at implementing legal and institutional reforms in the field of human rights and the rule of law;

13. in this regard, stresses the importance the continuing with Azerbaijan the Joint Programme of the European Commission and the Council of Europe for strengthening democratic stability, taking into account the specific needs of this country;

14. underlines the importance of strengthening the rule of law and respect for human rights and freedom of expression; in this regard, hopes that the issue concerning the office of the “Azadlig” newspaper will be quickly solved within the framework of relevant Azerbaijani legislation;

15. expresses its concern in particular following the assassination of journalist Elmar Huseynov and noting the steps taken so far by the Azerbaijani law enforcement bodies in investigating this assassination; regrets that so far the investigation has not been conclusive and calls on the Government of Azerbaijan to continue its efforts to find and bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime;

16. welcomes the recent decision taken by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 21 October 2006 to pardon 106 convicts;

17. reiterates once again its call on the Azerbaijani authorities to initiate the process necessary for signing and ratifying the Statute of the International Criminal Court;

18. takes note of the conclusions of the OSCE on the re-run of parliamentary elections of May 2006 and of the conclusions of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe regarding the re-run of municipal elections of 6 October 2006 in 603 municipalities; in this regard, calls upon Azerbaijani authorities to step up efforts as regards the cooperation with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in order to ensure that local democracy in Azerbaijan is based on real powers and financial resources;

19. stresses the importance of the promotion of mutual understanding and religious tolerance in our contemporary world; calls for the encouragement of inter-religious dialogue, in particular for raising awareness of Islam, its principles and philosophy, and welcomes the readiness of Azerbaijan to assist in this regard; notes also the importance of consolidating all efforts towards enhancing cooperation between the EU and the Organisation of Islamic Conference to eliminate manifestations of religious prejudice and welcomes the initiative on the part of Azerbaijan, in its capacity as Chairman of the Conference of Foreign Ministers of the OIC, to host an OIC Conference in Baky on the role of the media in the development of tolerance and mutual understanding in 2007 ;

20. calls on the governments of both Armenia and Azerbaijan to comply with their international commitments, in particular as regards the preservation of cultural heritage;


The situation in and around the Nagorno Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan

21. reiterates its full support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and maintains that peace and security in the region may be achieved only in this context; calls for an increasing political support for the OSCE Minsk Group efforts towards conflict settlement on the basis of the relevant UN SC resolutions and OSCE documents and decisions; supports the idea that the decision on the future status of Nagorno Karabakh can only be elaborated through a legal, democratic and peaceful process with the full, equal and direct participation of the entire population of the region consisting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities, and with due respect for the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty of States, and the rights of persons belonging to national minorities;

22. recalls the positions of the European Parliament and the Azerbaijani Parliament as expressed in previous joint statements; reiterates its concern on the attempts by Armenian side to consolidate the status-quo achieved by the military force; strongly condemns the organization of “constitutional referendum” by the separatist regime, which took place on December 10, 2006 in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan and in this regard reiterates its firm position that fait accompli may not serve as a basis for the settlement and no any action taken within this context, including arranging process, may be recognized as legally valid;

23. regrets that so far no agreement on conflict settlement over Nagorno-Karabakh could be reached between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan during their meetings in 2006; underlines the importance of continued consistent and sustained negotiations on the basis of Prague talks between the two countries with a view to reaching an agreement;

24. expresses concern at the ongoing humanitarian situation of refugees and IDP’s in Azerbaijan and urges the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) to conduct the needs assessment mission as soon as possible with a view to monitor the current humanitarian situation in Azerbaijan and to elaborate its further policy in this regard;

25. expresses its support for the Azerbaijani civilians, expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh and other surrounding occupied regions of Azerbaijan, and calls for their return in security and dignity;


Regional development

26. strongly supports the efforts made by Azerbaijan in the framework of the Organisation for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM) for enhancing regional cooperation and multilateral relations and calls on the European Commission for more active engagement in supporting this organisation; new ideas of enhanced, multicultural cooperation between the EU and the South Caucasus should be developed along the lines proposed by Azerbaijan and the European Parliament;

27. welcomes the importance of enhanced cooperation in the energy and transport fields in the context of the EU-Black Sea-Caspian Basin Ministerial Energy and Transport Conferences held in Baky in November 2004, and welcomes the continuation of the Baky process.

Adopted unanimously.