Brussels, 13/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - The EU and Jordan will meet on Monday 16 November, on the sidelines of the General Affairs Council, for the 8th session of their Association Council to: a) take stock of their relations and the implementation of the association agreement, and b) assess the political and economic developments in that country and the region. Like Morocco and Israel before it, Jordan would like to have “enhanced status”, to put the seal on the quality of its relations with the EU and allow it to be involved in many Community programmes.
Bilateral cooperation is satisfactory, from the European point of view, both on the economic level and with regard to progress in the political and civil rights areas. In civil rights, however, the EU is calling on Jordan to make further progress to put an end to so-called “honour crimes”, and to continue to reform the justice system and ensure real freedom of association, meeting and expression. It also asks the Kingdom to become a party to international anti-torture conventions. There is also satisfaction on the economic level, though with some recommendations on ensuring macro-economic stability, tackling corruption and managing public funds. The EU also calls on Jordan to open its market to European services. Technical-level consultations on this were opened at the end of October.
The EU and Jordan will also discuss the deadlock in the Euro-Med process in the hope that there can be a relaunch from the end of this month. Jordan intends to play a bigger role in the relaunch. Also up for discussion will be the Iraqi situation (in particular the Iraqi refugees in Jordan), Iran and the role of Syria in the region. The Middle East situation will also be discussed by ministers on Monday. (F.B./transl.rt)