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Syria
EU and Syria mark end of negotiations for an Association
Agreement
The European Commission and Syria today formally mark the
end of negotiations for an EU-Syria Association Agreement by
initialling the text. The Agreement will now be submitted
for approval to the decision-making bodies on both sides (in
the case of the EU, to the Council) and will later be
ratified by Parliaments. With this agreement, the EU
completes its network of association agreements with all its
partners in the Barcelona Process. The EU intends to work
now with its partners to foster the regional integration of
the Mediterranean countries, thus fostering South-South
trade.
Like all Association Agreements with partners in the
Barcelona Process, the Agreement with Syria covers three
areas:
On the political side, the Association Agreement
provides a framework to conduct regular political dialogue
on international issues of common interest, fostering mutual
understanding and promoting the convergence of views. It
includes essential provisions on respect for the democratic
principles and fundamental human rights, cooperation to
counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and
their means of delivery, and anti-terrorism,
On the economic chapter, the Association Agreement
foresees the creation of a free trade area between the EU
and Syria, contributing to the creation of a larger
Euro-Mediterranean area by the envisaged date of 2010. The
agreement covers trade in goods, services, rules for public
procurement, as well as for the protection of intellectual
property rights, co-operation in a large number of areas
including on customs, transport, tourism or environment, as
well as dispute settlement provisions in line with those in
the WTO.
The agreement also comprises a chapter on co-operation in
social and cultural matters. Cooperation will extend to
a wide range of fields, from education and culture to the
fight against crime, building and strengthening the rule of
law, legal and judicial co-operation, racism and xenophobia,
drugs and terrorism, movement of persons, control and
prevention of illegal immigration as well as for the
re-admission of nationals and non-nationals illegally
arriving on the territory of one party from the other.
Apart from concluding Association Agreements with all
partners in the Barcelona Process (Algeria, Egypt, Israel,
Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Tunisia,
Turkey1, and now Syria), the EU is also negotiating free
trade agreements with the Gulf Co-operation Council, the
regional grouping of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Background
In the Barcelona Declaration (1995) the then 27
Euro-Mediterranean Partners agreed on the establishment of a
Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area by 2010, to be achieved
through Association Agreements, negotiated and concluded
with the European Union, together with free trade agreements
between themselves.
These association agreements also include respect for human
rights and democratic principles as essential elements. More
recently it has been decided to add clauses on fighting
Terrorism, and on Non proliferation of Weapons of Mass
Destruction.
1) Turkey is covered by an Association Agreement dating back
to the 1960s, which envisages eventual membership of the
European Union, and the EU-Turkey customs union.
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