Baku, Azerbaijan, June 7
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
The European Union hopes to soon sign a new strategic partnership agreement with Azerbaijan, head of the EU delegation in Azerbaijan, Malena Mard told Trend June 7.
Currently, there is a process going on for obtaining an appropriate mandate from the EU Council, she said.
"After the mandate is received, it will be possible to begin negotiations with the Azerbaijani side," she noted. "As you know, we have already held two meetings in this regard. We hope it will be possible to start negotiations in the near future."
Mard went on to add that Azerbaijan and the EU need a new legal framework.
"As you know, the current partnership agreement between Azerbaijan and the EU was signed in the 1990s," Mard said. "This is a very old agreement and the agenda between Azerbaijan and the EU has changed drastically since then. Now we have established a deeper cooperation with Azerbaijan, and the legal framework should conform to this cooperation."
Currently, bilateral relations between the EU and Azerbaijan are regulated on the basis of the partnership and cooperation agreement, which was signed in 1996 and came into force in 1999.
The new agreement will envisage bringing Azerbaijan's legislation and procedures closer to the most important international and trade standards of the EU.
This process is meant to improve the access of Azerbaijani products to the EU markets.
