Brussels, 13/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On 16 April, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini will visit Tehran, flanked by a delegation of seven European commissioners - Miguel Arias Canete (energy and climate), Elzbieta Bienkowska (industry and internal market), Violeta Bulc (transport), Carlos Moedas (research, science and innovation), Tibor Navracsics (education, culture, youth and sport), Christos Stylianides (humanitarian aid and crisis management) and Karmenu Vella (environment, maritime affairs and fisheries). Their visit will be for 24 hours and is aimed at relaunching and strengthening relations between the EU and Iran after implementation of the agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme (see EUROPE 11470).
“This visit is an important step towards establishing cooperation between the EU and Iran on issues of mutual interest, and it is the opportunity for frank discussions on the points where differences of opinion persist”, Mogherini stated ahead of their visit.
The Commission delegation will assess areas of potential future involvement and cooperation with the Iranian government - such as the economy and trade, energy, civil nuclear cooperation, transport, the environment, science, migration, humanitarian aid and culture. More generally, regional issues and human rights will also be on their agenda.
A plenary meeting has been planned between the EU delegation and the Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif, as well as sectoral meetings between the European commissioners and relevant Iranian ministers, and meetings between Mogherini and the leader of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis), Ali Larijani, and the secretary of the national Security Council, Ali Shamkhani. A joint statement will be signed by Mogherini and Zarif on EU-Iran cooperation in different areas.
Enriching cooperation in many sectors. Discussions will therefore focus on a wide range of potential areas and sectors for cooperation, including transport (aviation and air safety, and also railways and maritime), research and innovation (Iran's participation in the Horizon 2020 programme), and education (greater participation for Iran in the Erasmus and Marie Curie programmes). The issue of migration will also be addressed (despite the absence of European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos), with Iran being a reception centre for over 3 million Afghans.
Support for WTO accession. Economic and trade relations, and energy, will be a particular focus for the discussions. On the multilateral level, the European delegation is expected to express the EU's support for Iran's future World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession negotiations, with Iran's application dating back to 1996. “Iran wants to join the WTO and we are ready to play a support role”, a senior Commission official told EUROPE on Wednesday 13 April.
On the bilateral level, although it is still not a case of relaunching negotiations for a cooperation and trade agreement (which have been on ice since August 2005), the EU wants a re-commitment in trade with Iran in order to boost bilateral trade (which stood at €7.6 million in 2014). With sanctions against Iran, the EU's exports fell from €12 billion in 2004 to €6.5 billion in 2014.
Spotlight on energy cooperation. As regards energy, the EU hopes to resume and reinforce its cooperation with Iran, not only for the production and generation of energy (oil, gas, renewables and, of course, nuclear for civil purposes), but also for energy efficiency and regulations.
On oil, the EU hopes to take advantage of the ambition of Iran (world's seventh-largest producer, fourth in terms of global reserves) to increase its production in order to buy from it, bypassing OPEC, of which it is a member, and which is pursuing a strategy of freezing gross production to stabilise and push up prices.
In the field of gas, the EU has its eyes on Iran's immense reserves (fourth-largest producer in the world, largest known reserves) and is aiming to make it a partner both in the framework of its Southern gas corridor project, which will connect the EU to the Caspian Sea and the Middle East via Turkey, and in the global LNG market. “We see Iran as a potential partner contributing to our strategy of diversifying supply. We are therefore not ruling out the possibility of the EU importing gas from Iran”, another Commission source close to the dossier told EUROPE.
Nuclear safety - ensuring confidence. In particular, the Commission aims to lay emphasis on the issues of safety and security. “Beyond the issue of Iran as a new nuclear power, the question of the safety and security of the installations is vital, given the earthquake risks in the region. We will discuss the matter there in order to reinforce confidence in the region”, this source explained.
No meetings with civil society. Although the Commission announced that human rights would be on the agenda of the trip, no meetings with civil society are planned. According to a source close to the dossier at the Commission, this is due to the fact that the trip will be a very short one, based around a specific objective. The informal intergroup meeting of the Friends of Free Iran of the European Parliament, however, wrote to Mogherini asking her to make human rights a priority of the visit. On 12 April, the EU extended by one year the restrictive measures against 82 individuals and one entity related to human rights violations in Iran (see EUROPE 11530). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Emmanuel Hagry)