Azerbaijan and the European Union

Relations between the EU and Azerbaijan

EU	Azerbaijan

The bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union  started after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991. Since 2009 the country has been linked to the European Union (EU) through the Eastern Partnership .

history

Since the declaration of independence in 1991, Azerbaijan had wanted to work with the EU. Before that, relations with the EU focused only on humanitarian aid  under the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection program .

Relations between the European Union (EU) and Azerbaijan are based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA-Azerbaijan) signed in 1996 and entered into force in 1999 . Until the PCA Azerbaijan was signed, there was no legal basis. The PCA-Azerbaijan created a suitable framework for political dialogue between Azerbaijan and the EU in order to be able to develop political relations.

Today the EU is Azerbaijan's largest trading partner and Azerbaijan is the EU's largest trading partner in the South Caucasus . According to EU statistics, 99.5% of EU imports from Azerbaijan consisted of oil and fuel .

Energy cooperation

As a country on the border between Europe and Asia , Azerbaijan is of enormous importance to the EU due to the EU's growing energy needs . The country plays a key role for Europe in oil exports from the Caspian Sea via non-Russian networks and as a possible export route for other Caspian oil producers such as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan .

The Energy Charter Treaty , Article 55 of the PCA Azerbaijan and the support programs based on it, TACIS (Technical Assistance for CIS), INOGATE (Interstate Oil and Gas), form the energy policy cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan Transport to Europa) and TRACECA (Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus Central Asia) provide the legal and contractual foundations.

According to Art. 55, energy policy cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan comprises the following areas:

• Formulation and development of an energy policy;
• Improving the management and regulation of the energy sector on a market basis;
• Improving energy supplies, including the security of energy supplies, in an economically and environmentally sound manner;
• Promotion of energy saving and the rational use of energy and implementation of the Energy Charter Protocol on energy efficiency and related environmental aspects;
• Modernization of energy infrastructures;
• Improvement of energy technology for supply and end use for all types of energy;
• Management training and technical training in the energy sector;
• Transport and transit of energy products and energy carriers;
• Creation of the institutional, legal, tax and other conditions necessary to promote the expansion of trade and investment in the energy sector;
• Development of hydropower and other renewable energy sources.

On November 6, 2006, İlham Əliyev and the then President of the European Commission , José Manuel Barroso, agreed on gas supplies to Europe . As a result of this agreement, José Manuel Barroso and Əliyev signed a strategic gas agreement. This was the first time that Ilham Əliyev promised in writing to supply Europe with gas. EU Commission President Barroso said: “This is a big breakthrough. With this agreement Europe has direct access to gas from the Caspian Basin, which enables the realization of the southern corridor. This new supply route will improve the energy security of European consumers and companies. ”According to the agreement, the infrastructure for gas supplies to Europe was jointly built by the EU and Azerbaijan.

Cooperation within the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP)

On May 12, 2004, the European Commission proposed with a communication entitled Strategy Paper for the European Neighborhood Policy , taking into account the proposals of the EU Special Representative, that the Council should decide to include Azerbaijan in the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). On July 6, 2004, Azerbaijan was included in the European Neighborhood Policy at the Brussels Summit. In November 2006, Azerbaijan and the EU agreed an action plan for reforms in the areas of politics, human rights, separation of powers, the economy and the judiciary.

The ENP Action Plan sets the following priority areas:

• Contribution to a peaceful solution to the Nagorny-Karabakh conflict;
• Strengthening democracy in Azerbaijan also through a fair and transparent electoral process in accordance with international requirements;
• Strengthening the protection of human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law in accordance with the international commitments entered into by Azerbaijan (PCA, Council of Europe , OSCE , UN );
• Improving the business and innovation climate, in particular by stepping up the fight against corruption;
• Improve the functioning of customs authorities;
• Supporting balanced and sustainable economic development with a particular focus on diversification of economic activities, rural development, poverty reduction and social / territorial cohesion;
• Promoting sustainable development including environmental protection;
• further convergence of economic laws and administrative practices;
• Strengthening EU-Azerbaijan bilateral energy cooperation and regional energy and transport cooperation in order to achieve the objectives of the Baku Ministerial Conference of November 2004;
• Strengthening cooperation in the field of justice, freedom and security, including border management;
• Strengthening regional cooperation.

See also

• Foreign policy of Azerbaijan

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mirsalamli, Ulviyye, The EU and Azerbaijan taking into account the European Neighborhood Policy, Vienna 2009, p. 32.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} 99/614 / EG, ECSC, Euratom: Decision of the Council and the Commission of 31 May 1999 on the conclusion of the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the European Communities and their Member States, on the one hand, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the other hand , accessed on 20th June 2017
3. ^ Natalja Winges: Azerbaijan. Exhibition and Trade Fair Committee of the German Economy eV, Berlin, 2008, archived from the original on August 15, 2017 ; accessed on June 20, 2017 (German). 
4. ↑ EU Bilateral Trade and Trade with the World, Azerbaijan main economic indicators, European Union, Trade with the World and Azerbaijan, by SITC Section (2011), March 21, 2012, p. 7.
5. ↑ European Parliament, Directorate-General for External Policies, note on the political and economic situation in Azerbaijan and its relations with the European Union, Luxembourg, August 19, 2004, p. 18.
6. ↑ European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - President Barroso and the President of Azerbaijan sign energy partnership agreement. Retrieved November 20, 2017 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Commission and Azerbaijan sign strategic gas agreement. Retrieved November 18, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Resolution of the European Parliament of February 26, 2004 on the proposal for a recommendation by the European Parliament to the Council on the European Union's policy towards the South Caucasus (2003/2225 (INI)) (PDF), accessed on November 20, 2017 . In: Official Journal of the European Union . C 98 E, April 23, 2004, pp. 193-200.
9. ↑ Communication from the Commission, European Neighborhood Policy - A Strategy Paper, COM (2004) 373 final. May 12, 2004.
10. ↑ European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Visit by Commissioner Potočnik to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia from 5th to 8th July. Retrieved November 20, 2017 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b} ENP Action Plan EU-Azerbaijan ( Memento from December 1, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), November 14, 2006. Accessed on November 20, 2017 (German)