European Union Association Agreement

A European Union Association Agreement or simply Association Agreement (AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU, or its predecessors), its Member States and a non-EU country or bloc of countries that governs bilateral relations. Areas frequently covered by such agreements include the development of political, trade, social, cultural and security links. The provision for an association agreement was included in the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community, as a means to enable co-operation of the Community with the United Kingdom, which had retreated from the treaty negotiations at the Messina Conference of 1955. According to the European External Action Service, for an agreement to be classified as an AA, it must meet several criteria:

The EU typically concludes Association Agreements in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade, or human rights reform in a country. In exchange, the country may be offered tariff-free access to some or all EU markets (industrial goods, agricultural products, etc.), and financial or technical assistance. Most recently signed AAs also include a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EU and the external party.

Association Agreements have to be accepted by the European Union and need to be ratified by all the EU member states and the state concerned.

Names and types

AAs go by a variety of names (e.g. Euro-Mediterranean Agreement Establishing an Association, Europe Agreement Establishing an Association) and need not necessarily even have the word "Association" in the title. Some AAs contain a promise of future EU membership for the contracting state.

The first states to sign such agreements were Greece in 1961 and Turkey in 1963.

In recent history, such agreements have been signed as part of two EU policies, the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAp) and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

The countries of the western Balkans (official candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and potential candidate Kosovo) are covered by SAp. All six have "Stabilisation and Association Agreements" (SAA) with the EU in force.

The Eastern European neighbours of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are all members of the Eastern Partnership and are covered by the ENP. While Russia has a special status with the EU-Russia Common Spaces instead of ENP participation.

Meanwhile, the countries of the Mediterranean, (Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia) are also covered by the ENP and seven of the Mediterranean states have a "Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an Association" (EMAA) with the EU in force, while Palestine has an interim EMAA in force. Syria initialed an EMAA in 2008, however signing has been deferred indefinitely. Negotiations for a Framework Agreement with the remaining state, Libya, have been suspended.

Moldova and Ukraine have Association Agreements in force. Armenia completed negotiations for a AA in 2013 but decided not to sign the agreement and later signed a revised CEPA with the EU in 2017. Azerbaijan was also negotiating an AA, but did not conclude one.

Both the SAA and ENP are based mostly on the EU's acquis communautaire and its promulgation in the co-operating states legislation. Of course, the depth of the harmonisation is less than full EU members and some policy areas may not be covered (depending on the particular state).

In addition to these two policies, AAs with free-trade agreement provisions have been signed with other states and trade blocs including Chile and South Africa.

EU Agreements with third states

EU Association Agreements with neighbouring countries
  •   EU member states
  •   Agreement on the European Economic Area
  •   Stabilisation and Association Agreement
  •   Agreement Establishing an Association
  •   Partnership and Cooperation Agreement; Association Agreement under negotiations
  •   Association Agreement under negotiations
  •   Euro-Mediterranean Agreement Establishing an Association
  •   Interim Euro-Mediterranean Agreement Establishing an Association
  •   Cooperation Agreement; Euro-Mediterranean Agreement Establishing an Association initialled
  •   Trade and Cooperation Agreement
  •   Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement
  •   Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed
  •   Negotiations on a Framework Agreement suspended

Association Agreements

In force

Currently in negotiations

  • Andorra AA
  • Libya (negotiations for a Framework Agreement were launched in 2008, but suspended in 2011 due to the Libyan Civil War; as of 2014 the EU is seeking to re-launch the negotiations)
  • Mercosur AA
  • San Marino AA
  • Syria EMAA (initialled in 2008, however signing has been stalled indefinitely by the EU due to concerns over the conduct of Syrian authorities during anti-government protests in 2011 and the ensuing civil war)

Formerly in negotiations but abandoned

Defunct agreements

Free-trade agreements

In force

EU Free trade agreements
Main article: European Union free trade agreements

Currently undergoing ratification

Currently in negotiations

  • Australia FTA
  • India FTA
  • Malaysia FTA (negotiations paused in 2012)
  • Morocco DCFTA (negotiations paused by Morocco in 2014)
  • Philippines FTA
  • Thailand FTA
  • Tunisia DCFTA (negotiations paused in 2019)
  • United States TTIP
  • APC Pacific EPA
  • ASEAN FTA (negotiations paused in 2009, in favour of bilateral negotiations with individual states)
  • ECOWAS EPA (finalised in February 2014, but not signed)
  • Central Africa states EPA
  • GCC FTA (negotiations suspended by GCC in 2008)

Other agreements

Currently undergoing ratification

Currently in negotiations

Defunct agreements

  • Albania ATCEC (1992), superseded by SAA in 2009
  • Armenia PCA (1999), superseded by CEPA in 2021
  • Georgia PCA (1999), superseded by AA in 2016
  • Kazakhstan PCA (1999) superseded by EPCA in 2020
  • Macedonia CA (1998), superseded by SAA in 2004
  • Mexico CA (1991), superseded by EPPCCA in 2000
  • Moldova PCA (1998), superseded by AA in 2016
  • Serbia FA FRY-EU (2000)
  • Ukraine PCA (1998), superseded by AA in 2017
  • Vietnam CA (1996) superseded by ACPC in 2016
Legend

Impact on environment and national economies

Agriculture & Manufacturing

Trade agreements between the EU and other countries or free trade zones have differential effects on the respective economies. Agricultural industries are most significantly impacted when regional farms have to compete with large producers that gain access to markets when tariffs fall. For large agreements such as the AA with Mercosur, significant opposition exists in European countries against cheaper imports of meats and other products. However, for the manufacturing sector of cars and industrial products for export, usually involving larger global corporations, relevant volume increases are obvious for the more industrialised trade members.

Environment

The impact on the environment for those nations that export farm products from areas with rain forests or other ecologically relevant regions, for example in Brazil, has been increasingly documented by environmental groups opposing EU trade agreements. In addition, other industries with large environmental impact such as mining are expanding in areas where the regulatory burden is low, for example in South America and Asia. Industry groups have argued that increased economic performance in those sectors will only strengthen standards in participating nations, and that EU trade agreements should go hand in hand with harmonisation efforts for environmental regulations.

See also

References

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