Negotiations on New Agreement between EU and Azerbaijan Not to End Soon

Baku / 12.12.17 / Turan: Negotiations between Azerbaijan and the European Union on a new partnership agreement will not be completed earlier than at the end of next year. At the same time, one should not expect Azerbaijan's accession to the WTO in the next 1-2 years, Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev told journalists today.

According to him, Azerbaijan expects to complete negotiations with the EU on a new agreement before the end of 2018. According to him, "there is progress in the negotiations."

On December 15, Baku and Brussels will hold another round of talks through a videoconference.

As Mammadguliyev stressed, despite the progress in the negotiations on political issues and a number of sectors, in terms of trade and investment, the process is slowing down. And this is due to the fact that Azerbaijan is not a member of the WTO.

Mammadguliyev said about the "relevance" of the issue regarding Azerbaijan's accession to the WTO. "But I do not believe that this will happen in the next one or two years," Mammadguliyev said.

The EU Council issued a mandate to the European Commission and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to negotiate a new agreement with Azerbaijan in November 2014.

At the same time, officially the negotiations began only on February 7, 2017. -06D-