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- Establishing a basis for cooperation in legislative, financial, civil, scientific,
technological, and cultural fields.
By 23 November 1999 decree of the Azerbaijani President, a state committee
was founded for implementing obligations of the treaty, expanding and regulating
the relations with the EU.
After the Treaty of Partnership and Cooperation came into force, one of the posi-
tive changes in relations between the EU and Azerbaijan was structural organiza-
tion of these relations. Activity of the established bodies – the Cooperation Council
and committee on parliamentary cooperation secured sustainability, regularity and
systematization of mutual relations.
Since 1999 inter-parliamentary cooperation has been intensively developing.
One of the main directions of these relations was the inter-parliamentary coopera-
tion with the first meeting held in April 2000. The discussion of the document titled
“Caucasian nations towards EU membership: new challenge from the European
Parliament” in committee meeting was a reflection of the progress in the relations.
The first meeting of the Cooperation Council took place on October 10, 1999.
The following issues were discussed in a number of meetings: ways of solution
of regional conflicts, cooperation, role of international programmes like TACIS,
TRACECA, INOGATE, reforms in Azerbaijan, integration with economic and po-
litical structures of Europe, security issues, unification of court system, freedom of
press.
The EU`s attitude towards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been changing
in recent years. The EU`s statements on Nagorno-Karabakh adopted in 1992-1993
didn’t distinguish the occupant state from the occupied one. However, the Declara-
tion on behalf of EU presidency on Presidential elections regarding the presidential
elections held in so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in August 2002 openly and
concretely stated “the EU doesn’t recognize independence of Nagorno-Karabakh”,
“the EU supports Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity”, and that Armenia is a belliger-
ent party. On May 20, 2010 the European Parliament adopted a resolution titled
“Requirement on the EU`s strategy in South Caucasus”. The resolution included
issues on regulation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The resolution also emphasized necessity of regulation of the conflict within the
framework of international law norms and principles and territorial integrity, rights
of refugees and IDPs, necessity of their return to their homeland.
Another important step in development of mutual relations was the institution
of permanent representation of the Azerbaijani Republic to the EU according to
the presidential decree on organized security of activity of representation of the
Azerbaijani Republic to the EU issued on April 3, 2000 and the appointment of the
EU`s special representative to South Caucasus in July 2003. The representation of
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BAKU-BRUSSELS (Azerbaijan-European Union relations)
the European Commission to the Azerbaijani Republic has been functioning since
February 4, 2008.
A new stage in the EU-Azerbaijani relations started in 2004. Azerbaijan received
an opportunity to conduct some of economic, political, legal, and administrative
reforms within the framework of the EU`s New Neighborhood Policy and to get the
EU`s technical and financial assistance. Within the framework of the programme,
Azerbaijan also got an opportunity of access quote to the EU market and free circu-
lation of employees, goods, services, and investment-capital resources.
Having considered the start of a new stage of Azerbaijan`s European integra-
tion as a result of Azerbaijan`s joining New Neighborhood Policy, President Ilham
Aliyev issued a decree on June 1, 2005 on establishing a state commission for
Azerbaijan`s integration into the EU. The decree implied setting up working groups
with the EU on political, economic, transport, energy, security, human rights, de-
mocratization, humanitarian, scientific-educational and other fields of cooperation.
The Azerbaijan-EU activity plan was adopted within the framework of the Euro-
pean neighborhood policy in November 2006. The EU allocated 92 million euro
for implementing the plan. Ilham Aliyev was the first South Caucasian leader to
have been invited to Brussels (May 2004) within the framework of programme. All
these facts prove that the EU attaches a great importance to Azerbaijan. During his
visit President Ilham Aliyev stated that “Integration to the European Union is our
strategic goal”.
During President Ilham Aliyev`s visit to Brussels in November 2006, a memo-
randum was signed between Azerbaijan and the EU on close cooperation on energy.
The EU`s New Neighborhood Policy with the South Caucasian nations confirms
the union`s serious interest in the region.
The EU initiated the Eastern Partnership. According to the project, the EU plans
to provide assistance worth 600 million euro to 6 countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia) till 2013.
The Eastern Partnership includes three main goals: 1) Comprehensive Institu-
tional Building programmes; 2) Pilot Regional Development Programmes on re-
moving economic inequality among partner countries and social inequality within
countries; 3) implementation of Eastern Partnership Multisided Dimension.
President Ilham Aliyev`s working visit to the Belgian Kingdom in 2009, his meet-
ings with the EU authorities, the visit of the chairman of the European Commission
Jose Manuel Barroso to Baku this January, the signed documents reaffirmed that
the relations between Azerbaijan and the EU are successfully developing within the
framework of the European Neighborhood Policy and this cooperation has entered
a new stage since the realization of the Eastern Partnership initiative.