EU waiting for right political climate to seal Syria accord
Agence France Presse | 13 September 2007
EU waiting for right political climate to seal Syria accord
DAMASCUS (AFP) - A senior European Parliament official said on Wednesday that the EU and Syria were waiting for the political climate to improve to allow the signing of an association agreement.
The accord, on which the two sides completed negotiations in October 2004 but which needs ratification, aims to set up a free-trade zone by 2010. Syria will become the last Mediterranean country to have an accord with the EU.
"The association agreement is in the works," Beatrice Patrie, chairwoman of parliament’s delegation for relations with Arab countries, said after talks on the accord with President Bashar al-Assad.
"The ball is now in the court" of the 27-member European Commission, she told a press conference.
"There is no additional condition... But for it to be signed, the political conditions must be favourable. We are aware we must go forward and that Syria has a constructive role to play in the region," said Patrie.
Official EU contacts with Syria have been frozen since the February 2005 assassination in Beirut of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri that was widely blamed on Damascus.
Syria strongly denies any involvement, but was forced to end its military domination of Lebanon and withdraw its troops.
The United States has also been pressing for the isolation of Syria over its alleged failure to take steps to prevent Arab insurgents crossing into Iraq from its territory.
