European Union Association Agreement

A European Union Association Agreement (for short, Association Agreement or AA) is a treaty between the European Union (EU), its Member States and a non-EU country that creates a framework for co-operation between them. Areas frequently covered by such agreements include the development of political, trade, social, cultural and security links. The legal base for the conclusion of the association agreements is provided by art. 217 TFEU (former art. 310 and art. 238 TEC).

Overview

Association Agreements are broad framework agreements between the EU (or its predecessors) and its member states, and an external state which governs their bilateral relations. 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:^[1]

1. The legal basis for their conclusion is Article 217 TFEU (former art. 310 and art. 238 TEC)

2. Intention to establish close economic and political cooperation (more than simple cooperation);
3. Creation of paritary bodies for the management of the cooperation, competent to take decisions that bind the contracting parties;
4. Offering Most Favoured Nation treatment;
5. Providing for a privileged relationship between the EC and its partner;
6. Since 1995 the clause on the respect of human rights and democratic principles is systematically included and constitutes an essential element of the agreement;

7. In a large number of cases, the association agreement replaces a cooperation agreement thereby intensifying the relations between the partners.

— European External Action Service

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 third country.

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.

AAs go by a variety of names (Euro-Mediterranean Agreement Establishing an Association, Europe Agreement Establishing an Association, etc.) 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 an agreements were Greece (1961)^[2] and Turkey in (1963).^[3]

In recent history, such agreements have been signed as part of two EU policies: Stabilisation and Association Process (SAp) and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The countries of the western Balkans (official candidates Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, and potential candidates Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo^[a]) are covered by SAp and the EU signs "Stabilisation and Association Agreements" (SAA) with them. The countries of the Mediterranean (Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia) and Eastern Europe neighbours (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, but excluding Russia that insists on creating four EU-Russia Common Spaces) are covered by ENP. Seven of the Mediterranean states have a "Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an Association" (EMAA) in force, while another has an interim EMAA in force.^[4] Several of the Eastern Partnership states are ratifying or negotiating AAs.

Both the SAA and ENP AP 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 for 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

EU member states

Agreement on the European Economic Area

Stabilisation and Association Agreement

Agreement Establishing an Association

Partnership and Cooperation Agreement; Association Agreement signed or 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

Partnership and Cooperation Agreement

Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed

Negotiations on a Framework Agreement suspended

Association Agreements

In force

• ACP PA (2003)^[5]
• Albania SAA (2009)^[6]
• Algeria EMAA (2005)^[7]
• Bosnia and Herzegovina SAA (2015)^[8]
• Chile AA (2005)^[9]
• Egypt EMAA (2004)^[10]
• Georgia AA (2016)^[11]
• Iceland EEA (1994)^[12]
• Israel EMAA (2000)^[13]
• Jordan EMAA (2002)^[14]
• Kosovo* SAA (2016)^[15]
• Lebanon EMAA (2006)^[16]
• Liechtenstein EEA (1995)^[12]
• Macedonia^[17] SAA (2004)^[18]
• Moldova AA (2016)^[19]
• Montenegro SAA (2010)^[20]
• Morocco EMAA (2000)^[21]
• Norway EEA (1994)^[12]
• Serbia SAA (2013)^[22]
• South Africa ATDC (2004)^[23]
• Syria CA (1978;^[24] cooperation programmes suspended in 2011)^[25]
• Tunisia EMAA (1998)^[26]
• Turkey AA (1964)^[27] the framework for a CU (1995)^[28]
• Ukraine AA (2017)^{[29][30][31][32]}

Currently undergoing ratification

• Central America AA (signed in 2012)^[33]

Currently in negotiations

• Andorra AA^[34]
• Azerbaijan AA^[35]
• 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^[36])
• Mercosur AA^[37][38]
• Monaco AA^[34]
• San Marino AA^[34]
• Syria EMAA (initialled in 2008,^[39] 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)^[25][40]

Defunct agreements

• Bulgaria EAA (1995),^[41] acceded to the EU in 2007
• Croatia SAA (2005),^[42] acceded to the EU in 2013
• Cyprus AA (1973),^[43] acceded to the EU in 2004
• Czech Republic EAA (1995),^[44] acceded to the EU in 2004
• Estonia EAA (1998),^[45] acceded to the EU in 2004
• Greece AA (1961), acceded to the EU in 1981
• Hungary EAA (1994),^[46] acceded to the EU in 2004
• Latvia EAA (1998),^[47] acceded to the EU in 2004
• Lithuania EAA (1998),^[48] acceded to the EU in 2004
• Malta AA (1971),^[49] acceded to the EU in 2004
• Poland EAA (1994),^[50] acceded to the EU in 2004
• Romania EAA (1995),^[51] acceded to the EU in 2007
• Slovakia EAA (1995),^[52] acceded to the EU in 2004
• Slovenia EAA (1999),^[53] acceded to the EU in 2004
• United Kingdom ACR (1955),^[54] acceded to the EU in 1973

Free-trade agreements

In force

EU Free trade agreements

• Andorra CU (1991)^[55]
• Faroe Islands (autonomous constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark) FTA (1997)^[56]
• Mexico EPPCCA (2000)^[57]
• Monaco CU (1958)^[58]
• Palestinian Authority interim EMAA (1997)^[4][59]
• San Marino CCU (2002)^[60]
• South Korea FTA (2015)^[61]
• Switzerland FTA (1973)^[62]

Currently undergoing ratification

• Colombia and Peru FTA (signed in 2012)^[63]
• Canada CETA (signed in 2016)^[64]
• Cameroon Interim EPA (signed in 2009)^[65]
• CARIFORUM EPA (signed in 2008)^[66]
• Côte d'Ivoire Stepping Stone EPA (signed in 2009)^[67]
• Ecuador FTA (signed in 2016)^[68]
• Ghana Stepping Stone EPA (signed in 2016)^[69]
• Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles, and Zimbabwe Interim EPA (signed in 2009)^[70]
• SADC EPA (signed in 2016)^[71]

Currently in negotiations

• Australia FTA^[72]
• India FTA^[73]
• Japan FTA^[74]
• Malaysia FTA^[75]
• Morocco DCFTA^[76]
• New Zealand FTA^[77]
• Philippines FTA^[78]
• Singapore FTA (finalised in October 2014, but not signed)^[79]
• Thailand FTA^[80]
• Tunisia DCFTA^[81]
• United States TTIP^[82]
• Vietnam FTA (finalised in December 2015, but not signed)^[83][84]
• APC Pacific EPA^[85]
• ASEAN FTA (negotiations paused in 2009, in favour of bilateral negotiations with individual states)^[86]
• EAC EPA (finalised in October 2014, but not signed)^[87][88]
• ESA states EPA^[89]
• ECOWAS EPA (finalised in February 2014, but not signed)^[88][90]
• Central Africa states EPA^[91]
• GCC FTA (negotiations suspended by GCC in 2008)^[92]

Other agreements

• Andorra CA (2005)^[93]
• Armenia PCA (1999)^[94]
• ASEAN CA (1980),^[95] valid only for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Azerbaijan PCA (1999)^[96]
• GCC CA (1989)^[97]
• Georgia PCA (1999)^[98]
• Indonesia ACPC (2014)^[99]
• Kazakhstan PCA (1999)^[100]
• Kyrgyzstan PCA (1999)^[101]
• Moldova PCA (1998)^[102]
• Mongolia ATEC (1993)^[103]
• Papua New Guinea Interim PA (2011)^[104]
• Russia PCA (1997)^[105]
• Tajikistan PCA (2010)^[106]
• Ukraine PCA (1998)^[107]
• USSR TCA (1989), endorsed by Tajikistan in 1994 and by Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan PCA (1999)^[108]
• Vietnam ACPC (2016)^[109]
• Yemen CA (1998)^[110]

Currently undergoing ratification

• Belarus PCA (signed in 1995)^[111]
• Fiji Interim PA (signed in 2009)^[104]
• Iraq PCA (signed in 2012)^[112]
• Kazakhstan Enhanced PCA (signed in 2015)^[113]
• Mongolia ACPC (signed in 2013)^[114]
• New Zealand PARC (signed in 2016)^[115]
• Philippines PCA (signed in 2012)^[116]
• Turkmenistan PCA (signed in 1998)^[117]

Currently in negotiations

• Armenia ^[118]
• Malaysia PCA^[119]
• Russia (negotiations suspended in 2010)^[120]
• Singapore PCA^[121]
• Thailand PCA^[122]

Defunct agreements

• Albania ATCEC (1992),^[123] superseded by SAA in 2009
• Algeria CA (1978),^[124] superseded by EMAA in 2005
• Egypt CA (1978),^[125] superseded by EMAA in 2004
• Macedonia CA (1998),^[126] superseded by SAA in 2004
• Mexico CA (1991),^[127] superseded by EPPCCA in 2000
• Morocco CA (1978),^[128] superseded by EMAA in 2000
• Serbia FA FRY-EU (2000)
• Tunisia CA (1978),^[129] superseded by EMAA in 1998
• Vietnam CA (1996)^[130] superseded by ACPC in 2016
• ACP Convention (1976,^[131] 1981,^[132] 1986,^[133] 1991^[134]), superseded by PA in 2003

Legend

See also

• European Union free trade agreements
• Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe
• Free trade areas in Europe
• EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements
• Future enlargement of the European Union

Notes

References

External links

• Free trade agreements
• EU free trade agreements
• Council of the European Union Agreements and conventions database
• European External Action Service Treaties Office Database
• EU Neighbourhood Info Centre
• EU Neighbourhood Library