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HISTORICAL REFERENCES
The European Union
Headquartered in Brussels, the European Union (EU) is a supranational organi-
zation, as well as an interstate economic and political union made up of 27 states.
Although the EU was officially established on November 1,1993 with the Treaty
of Maastricht, its seeds were planted on April 18, 1951 with the Treaty of Paris
when the European Steel and Coal Community was established, consisting of Bel-
gium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
The European Union is a union of democratic European countries obligated
to cooperate for peace and progress. The EU doesn’t aim at replacing the current
states, but is more than an international organization. The EU member-states have
established common institutions and ceded part of their sovereignty to those institu-
tions in order to adopt decisions democratically on Europe-wide common special
matters. This kind of merger of sovereignty is also called European integration.
The EU traces its origins from the Second World War period. The concept of
European integration was expected to prevent new conflicts and devastations in Eu-
rope. This concept was first proposed by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman
on May 9, 1950. The date is annually celebrated as Europe Day.
The EU has five institutions, each with special roles:
European Parliament (elected by the population of the member-states);
Council of the European Union (represent governments of the member-states);
European Commission (moving force and executive body);
European Court of Justice (ensures observation of law);
Court of Auditors (audits reliable and lawful management of the EU budget).
The EU originally consisted of six nations: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy,
Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Denmark, Ireland, and the UK joined the EU in
1973, Greece – in 1981, Spain and Portugal – in 1986, Austria, Finland, and Swe-
den – in 1995.
In 2004, the EU saw its biggest enlargement when Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, Es-
tonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary joined
the Union. In 2007, Romania and Bulgaria became the EU members.
On January 1 2007, the EU completed its fifth enlargement launched in May
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2004. Currently, the EU, consisting of 27 member-states and having a population
of 500 million inhabitants, is the biggest trade bloc in the world. Human rights,
democracy and rule of law are core values of the EU.
As stated in Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reconfirmed at 1993
World Conference on Human Rights, ensuring respect for human rights, including
civil, political, economic, public, or cultural rights, is the goal of the EU. The union
also agitates for rights of women, children, minorities, and refugees.
The Treaty of Lisbon which comprises the constitutional basis of the European
Union, sets following principles for governing the union: democracy, rule of law,
commonality and inseparability of human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect
for human dignity, equality and solidarity, respect for principles of the UN Charter
and international law. These principles are included to the EU Charter of Funda-
mental Rights that contains all rights of the EU in one text.
The union fights against racism, xenophobia, as well as religious, gender, age,
disability, sexual orientation discrimination. The EU is also concerned about human
rights regarding asylum and migration.
The union has set support for human rights and democracy as a central issue of
its foreign policy. In this regard, large-scale programs and activities are being car-
ried out.
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Azerbaijan – European Union relations
Since 1993 Azerbaijan has declared its interest in relations with the European
Union and started to set relations with the EU in different fields. Azerbaijan`s ad-
vantageous geographic location and rich natural resources make our country inter-
esting for the EU. The relations of Azerbaijan with the EU are being implemented
mostly within the framework of different programmes.
In order to establish relations with newly independent states, conduct demo-
cratic reforms, found market economy infrastructure, develop trade, transport and
customs, the EU launched the TACIS programme in the 1990s and finances it.
The EU`s other initiative is the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia proj-
ect (TRACECA) project launched in May 1993 at a Brussels conference featuring
representatives of Central Asian and Caucasian nations. The project implies res-
toration of Great Silk Way in new conditions, reinstatement and development of
transport-communication infrastructure. The EU provides assistance to the project
via a technical aid programme. The key point in implementation of TRACECA was
the international conference held in Baku on September 8-9, 1998 featuring repre-
sentatives of 32 nations and 13 international organizations. The Basic Multilateral
Agreement on International Transport for Development of the Europe-Caucasus-
Asia Corridor that reflects technical and economic aspects of implementation of the
Europe-Caucasus-Asia Corridor was signed in the conference. Intensive activity of
TRACECA has had a significant role in socio-economic life of Azerbaijan, includ-
ing in shipping profits, development of transport infrastructure, opening of new
jobs, etc. The Permanent Secretariat of the TRACECA Inter-Governmental Com-
mission was officially opened on February 21, 2001 and implements coordination.
The Treaty of Partnership and Cooperation signed on April 22, 1996 opened a
new stage in relations between Azerbaijan and the EU. The treaty that came into
force in 1999 and is a legal-normative basis of mutual relations was characterized
by Heydar Aliyev as “a historic event for Azerbaijan”. The treaty aimed at develop-
ment of mutual relations in different fields of society such as political, economic,
cultural, social, and so on. According to the treaty, the aims of the partnership are
following:
- Developing political dialogue between the parties and establishing relevant
frame for it.
- Strengthening democracy and assisting in completing transition to market
economy.
- Expanding trade and investment between the parties for achieving sustainable
development.
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