Azerbaijan–European Union relations
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The
History
Until the
In 1996 formal relations with the European Union began with the signature of the EU-Azerbaijan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). This agreement entered into force in 1999.[4]
On January 25, 2001, Azerbaijan became the 43rd state to join the Council of Europe.[5] Since joining, Azerbaijan has ratified 50 treaties[6]
In July 2003, the EU appointed a Special Representative for the South Caucasus. Since 2004, Azerbaijan has been included (as a southern Caucasus country) in the
In February 2017, EU and Azerbaijan launched negotiations to replace the original agreement adopted 20 years prior.[9]
Political relations
The EU and Azerbaijan have worked together on various political agreements, the EU-Azerbaijan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1999 being the most important one. The agreement aims at enhancing trade, investment, the economy, legislation and culture within the framework of the EU-Azerbaijan Partnership and Cooperation.
As of 2018 discussions on updating the legal basis for relations between the EU and Azerbaijan were ongoing.[13]
The Azerbaijani government has been investigated by more than 10 European media organizations and was accused of laundering money to the United Kingdom. The "
Economic and financial relations
EU-Azerbaijani economic and trade relations are regulated by the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). The European Union is Azerbaijan's first trading partner representing 48.6% of Azerbaijan's total trade.[citation needed] The EU is Azerbaijan's biggest export and import market with a 60.7% and 31.8% share in Azerbaijan's total exports and imports respectively.[citation needed] The EU's exports to Azerbaijan, which were worth €1.8 billion in 2016, consist primarily of machinery and transport equipment whereas EU imports from Azerbaijan, worth €7.6 billion in 2016, cover mainly oil and gas (98% of total imports).[7] The EU is a key foreign investor in Azerbaijan. In 2013, its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country was €4.7 billion.[16] The PCA does establish economic cooperation aimed at strengthening business links and developing market-based rules and practices for trade in goods and services. Closer economic integration with Azerbaijan is also followed through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership initiative of the EU. Azerbaijan is receiving technical assistance from the EU to help it become a World Trade Organization member. EU support to Azerbaijan amounts to around €30 million each year.[16] Non-Government Organisation (NGO) projects under Human Rights, Democratisation and Non-State Actor budget lines (EIDHR and NSA) also get funding.[13][17]
EU assistance used to focus on humanitarian aid, food security and social protection. As economic and political conditions in the country have improved dramatically, there is now more emphasis on the European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan, Non-oil economy, government capacity-building and programmes like INOGATE, TRACECA, TEMPUS, and ERASMUS MUNDUS.[13]
Opinions
As of 2008, Azerbaijan and the European Union shared a common energy agenda, and both support the building of a pipeline to bring Azeri oil to Europe. on November 7, 2008, the European Commissioner for Energy, Andris Piebalgs said, that "recent events in the Caucasus have shown once again that this is a critical time for energy issues in the region and that EU-Azerbaijan energy cooperation should be strengthened now more than ever".[18]
Azerbaijan's president, Ilham Aliyev, stated on April 24, 2004, that "[Azerbaijan's] current strategic choice is integration in Europe, European family and institutions. We are strongly committed to this policy. We will do our utmost so that Azerbaijan meets all standards and criteria peculiar to Europe. Our policy is such and we have been pursuing it for a long time. Current events in Azerbaijan are the results of this continued policy."[19] Aliyev's government sees the benefits of working with Europe and is engaged in welcoming European business, investment, and aid.
The government is focused on developing Azerbaijan with a combination of European and more regional investments. These interests occasionally clash.[20]
In 2016 the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev responded to a moderator's question at the Munich Security Conference of why Azerbaijan didn't sign an Association Agreement with the European Union:[21]
One of the reasons why Azerbaijan didn’t sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, apart from that according to our impression it was not an agreement it was a unilateral instruction list to us, but the main reason was not that. The main reason was that they did not want to have a very precise wording about the resolution of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. They have these provisions in the agreement with Georgia, with Moldova, at that time Ukraine didn’t have this problem. But when it comes to Azerbaijan it is a double standard. Russia was sanctioned for what happened in Ukraine. Armenia was not sanctioned for what happened in Nagorno-Karabakh. This double standard approach must be eliminated.
Present situation
Azerbaijan and the European Union have similar beliefs on most policies and are presently working together to forward their combined interests. The European Community developed a three-year aid plan for Azerbaijan, called the National Indicative Program (NIP), with a budget of €92 million over three years (2007–2010). The main goals of this program are to develop government agencies, run them more efficiently, and help Azerbaijan to develop its internal infrastructure to promote foreign investment and business. The EU has also set up a European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) office in Baku to give advice to Azerbaijan's government and to make sure that human rights are protected.[4]
As of 2008, the European Union and Azerbaijan were working together on a number of energy projects. The main project is the building of a pipeline to connect the Caspian oil and gas supply to Europe. Europe has been supporting Azerbaijan's state-sponsored program for the increased use of alternative and renewable energy sources.
In November 2013, an agreement on the facilitation of visa issuance was signed between Azerbaijan and the European Union in Vilnius, Lithuania and came into force on 1 September 2014. According to the agreement, visa handling is fee-free for particular groups of citizens such as official delegates, pensioners, children under 12, students and researchers.The agreement is not in effect in the UK, Ireland, and Denmark.[31]
On 27 September 2020, President of the European Council
In July 2022, the European Commission signed an agreement with Azerbaijan to increase natural gas imports.[34]
Energy cooperation
"Southern Gas Corridor"
President of the European Commission
Building Southern Gas Corridor, European countries and companies support gas export from Azerbaijan and contribute to finance Azerbaijan's government.[38] The Aliyev regime is considered by many NGOs and watchdogs organizations as repressive and activists and journalists are regularly arrested on false charges and imprisoned. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) wrote in 2015, that "for more than a decade Azerbaijan has made shameless use of caviar diplomacy to charm European governments, its most important oil and gas clients".[39] The CEE BankWatch warns that "Developing Shah Deniz stage 2 and the Southern Gas Corridor is likely to cement further the oppressive structures of the Aliyev government".[40]
See also
- Enlargement of the European Union
- Azerbaijan–NATO relations
- Armenia–European Union relations
- Georgia–European Union relations
- Turkey–European Union relations
References
- ^ "Azerbaijan and the EU - EEAS - European External Action Service - European Commission". EEAS - European External Action Service. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
- ^ "About the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan - EEAS - European External Action Service - European Commission". EEAS - European External Action Service. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
- ^ “History of Azerbaijan.” http://www.azerb.com/az-hist.html. 2004, Accessed 12 November 2008
- ^ a b “European Commission External Relations: Azerbaijan.” http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/azerbaijan/index_en.htm. 25 November 2008, Accessed 26 November 2008.
- ^ “Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe.” http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/Member_states/e_az.asp#TopOfPage. 5 June 2008, Accessed 12 November 2008.
- ^ “Statistics on Signatures and Ratifications: Azerbaijan.” http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ListeStats.asp?PO=AZE&MA=999&CM=17&CL=ENG Archived 2015-09-11 at the Wayback Machine. 12 November 2008, Accessed 12 November 2008.
- ^ a b c "EU-Azerbaijan relations - EEAS - European External Action Service - European Commission". EEAS - European External Action Service. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
- ^ “European Neighborhood Policy: Azerbaijan.” http://ec.europa.eu/world/enp/partners/enp_azerbaijan_en.htm. 19 March 2007, Accessed 12 November 2008.
- ^ "EU and Azerbaijan launching negotiations on a new agreement | EU Neighbours". www.euneighbours.eu. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
- ^ eeas.europa.eu https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/eu-az_pca_full_text.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ "EEAS - European External Action Service - European Commission". EEAS - European External Action Service. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
- ^ "EEAS - European External Action Service - European Commission". EEAS - European External Action Service. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
- ^ a b c d "Azerbaijan and the EU". EEAS - European External Action Service. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
- ^ "Everything you need to know about the Azerbaijani Laundromat". the Guardian. 2017-09-04.
- ^ "Southern Gas Corridor is the missing piece of Azerbaijani Laundromat puzzle". The Guardian. 6 September 2017.
- ^ a b "European Union and Azerbaijan - The Republic of Azerbaijan Ministry of Economy". economy.gov.az. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
- ^ cdn4-eeas.fpfis.tech.ec.europa.eu https://cdn4-eeas.fpfis.tech.ec.europa.eu/cdn/farfuture/KEIIUsiH5XJ3v18XIN_h81Ijj_wrJ7mIeCKDmcrZJxc/mtime:1539684785/sites/eeas/files/eap_factsheet_azerbaijan_eng_web.pdf. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Commissioner Piebalgs Underlines in Baku the Strategic Role of Azerbaijan for the Realization of the Southern Gas Corridor.” http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1664&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en. 7 November 2008, Accessed 12 November 2008.
- ^ “President of Azerbaijan: Priorities/Foreign Policy.” http://www.president.az/browse.php?sec_id=34 Archived 2007-10-05 at the Wayback Machine. 18 September 2006, Accessed 12 November 2008.
- ^ Mirfendereski, Guive. A Diplomatic History of the Caspian Sea. New York, Palgrave, 2001. Page 186.
- ^ "The Fault Lines of Eurasia". YouTube. 19 February 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ “European Commission External Cooperation Programs: Azerbaijan.” http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/country-cooperation/azerbaijan/azerbaijan_en.htm. 22 July 2008, Accessed 12 November 2008.
- ^ "Azerbaijan". European External Action Service. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
- ^ "EU expects Association Agreement with Azerbaijan for November EaP summit". 2013-04-04. Archived from the original on 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
- ^ "Azerbaijan won't sign EU association agreement: official". 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
- ^ "EU Delegation to Azerbaijan: "The final objective is to sign an association agreement"". 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
- ^ Ahmadova, Sabina (2013-11-29). "Vilnius Summit participants welcome progress in EU-Azerbaijan negotiations on Association Agreement". Retrieved 2013-12-01.
- ^ "EU-Azerbaijan: Willingness to enhance cooperation on all levels". European Commission. 2013-12-09. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
- ^ "Azerbaijan: EU ready to enhance cooperation on all levels, but fundamental freedoms remain key". 2013-12-09. Archived from the original on 2014-01-07. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
- ^ "EU to negotiate new agreement with Azerbaijan". European Neighbourhood Policy. 2016-11-15. Archived from the original on 2016-11-27. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
- ^ "EUR-Lex - 22014A0430(02) - EN - EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
- ^ "Armenia-Azerbaijan clashes: How the world reacted". aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020.
- ^ "EU fails to act on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan". Deutsche Welle. 8 October 2020.
- ^ "EU signs deal with Azerbaijan to double gas imports by 2027". Al Jazeera. 18 July 2022.
- ^ "The Southern Gas Corridor | Shah Deniz | Operations and projects | BP Caspian". bp.com. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
- ^ Columns. "Southern Gas Corridor". TAP. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
- ^ "Gas and oil supply routes - Energy - European Commission". Energy. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
- ^ "EBRD board approves $500 mln loan for TANAP gas pipeline project". Reuters. 18 October 2017.
- ^ "'Azerbaijan is turning into a dictatorship – we shouldn't fall for its caviar diplomacy'". International Federation for Human Rights. August 13, 2015.
- ^ "Pipedreams: Public subsidies for Lukoil in Azerbaijan". Issuu. Bankwatch Network. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
Further reading
- Fischer, Sabine: "European Policy towards the South Caucasus after the Georgia Crisis" in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 1 No. 1, 17 December 2008, 17pp
- Mammadli, Anar: "EU–Azerbaijan Relations: Enhancing Human Rights and Democracy within Eastern Partnership Initiatives" in the Caucasus Analytical Digest No. 35-36 No. 35–36, 15 February 2012, 22pp
External links
- Azerbaijan's gas policy: challenges and dilemmas, Opinion by Leila Alieva, April 2009, European Union Institute for Security Studies