EU Draws Up Terms of Talks for Closer Ties with South Caucasus

EU will table proposals on terms of talks on association agreements with three South Caucasus states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in early November, according to the decision made at EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on September 15.

The discussion at the meeting in Brussels focused on “how to enhance bilateral relations” with these countries in frames of EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said after the meeting that after the draft negotiating mandate is prepared in November, it would be possible to move forward the process of negotiations “at the speed that the [EU] presidency and the member states decide appropriate.”

Meanwhile, senior officials from EU and the South Caucasus countries will meet in late September and then the meetings of Cooperation Councils between these countries and EU will be held on October 26-27 to further discuss the issue.

Georgian PM, Nika Gilauri, said on September 2 that Georgia had prepared all the necessary proposals and documents required for launching talks with EU on free trade agreement.

Existing relations between the EU and the three Southern Caucasian countries are based on partnership and cooperation agreements, which entered into force in 1999 for an initial period of ten years and are now automatically extended on a yearly basis. EU’s new vision on developing ties with these three countries was put forth with the creation of Eastern Partnership.

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