Brussels, 19/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - Exploratory discussions were held last week between the European Commission and Libya, with a view to talks for concluding a cooperation agreement. Formal talks may not take place, however, until the Council has given its go-ahead and approved the draft negotiating mandate requested by the Commission.
Libyan sources confirm that things are beginning to look hopeful. It remains to be seen whether the future French EU Presidency (second term 2008) will confirm its commitment on this dossier. At the end of 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy said “we cannot turn our backs on a country that has taken the road of giving up weapons of mass destruction and terrorism”. The attitude adopted by Mu'ammar Kadhafi against the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), however, is now being taken into account. The EU Council said, on 16 October 2007, that it agreed political contacts with Libya, decided in 2004, should be reinforced in order to improve EU-Libya relations. This policy will aim to set in place a long-term appropriate and coherent framework for EU-Libya relations, in which the interests of both Libya and the EU and its member states will be taken into account. The Council had expressed the view that the EU and Libya should, as soon as possible, begin discussions on an EU-Libya framework agreement, which will cover questions of mutual interest, such as human rights and migration. It invited the Commission to present to this end a proposal for negotiation directives taking into account the fundamental principles that underpin the European Union's foreign policy. Cooperation in the field of fisheries and for the management of migratory flows has been initiated but not followed up. (F.B./transl.jl)