Brussels, 11/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 December negotiations will open in Brussels with a view to concluding cooperation agreements between the EU and Iran. During the morning, the European and Iranian parties will launch negotiations on political dialogue and on the fight against terrorism. The afternoon will be devoted to the first official talks with a view to concluding an agreement on economic and commercial cooperation. Although no deadline has been fixed for completing the process, the European Commission reaffirmed it would consider the economic and political chapters as a "package" and that no formal decision would be taken without overall agreement.
So far, there has been no contractual relationship linking the EU and Iran. However, since the second half of the nineties, dialogue on questions as varied as trade, investment, energy, drugs, international relations (Middle East, combating terrorism), the introduction of reforms in the Iranian society and human rights has developed to the point that the parties today consider it is in their interest to structure this by creating a real framework for cooperation. The Commission, who was mandated by the Council to negotiate the economic and commercial aspects of such cooperation, plans to achieve establishment of a contractual regime that is in line with the provisions of the WTO, providing above all for application of the most favoured nation clause. It plans to support the efforts made by Teheran to conform to the WTO rules in fields such as intellectual property, public markets, standardisation and sanitary issues, with a view to Iran's accession to the Organisation, and to intensify its cooperation in the energy, transport, environment, drug control, migration (including issues relating to asylum and refugees) and culture sectors. The EU also hopes to support reform and the strengthening of the rule of law in Iran, and to contribute to improving respect of human rights. A clause on human rights will be an integral part of the agreement.