By Chris Jones - 20th November 2006
EU officials have insisted that the start of talks on a new trade agreement with Iraq is not premature, despite the escalating violence there.
Negotiations will begin on Monday over a deal designed to strengthen relations between the EU and Iraq and that fulfils a pledge made to the new administration in Baghdad by the European commission.
“This agreement will be important in cementing relations between the EU and the new Iraq and in helping Iraq come into the international community,” said a spokeswoman for EU foreign relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
“The reason why it is happening now is that we believe the process of negotiation will be a very valuable one.”
“[The Iraqi] government doesn’t have experience of international negotiations or of working with international partners on complex agreements of this kind.”
“We hope that the talks will be useful for the Iraqi government in familiarising itself with these kinds of procedures.”
And she added that the nature of the talks meant that there was likely to be plenty of time for the political situation in Iraq to improve before the agreement was implemented.
“Such talks take quite a while, and we should not expect them to be completed within weeks or months… but we have to hope that by the time they are complete we will be looking at a security situation that is more favourable than what we see today,” she said.
The “broad based” agreement covers a wide range of issues, from trade in goods and services and intellectual property rights to environmental protection, culture, education and customs cooperation.
But there will also be discussion on how the EU can help Iraq reduce poverty, improve the human rights situation and combat terrorism.
The commission has given more than €720m for the reconstruction of Iraq since 2003, although the focus has been on the rather more urgent issues such as the provision of basic services such as power, water and healthcare.
Speaking after the official start of negotiations, Ferrero-Waldner said that the agreement would be “of rel benefit to both sides”.
“Iraq is a wealthy country, but we need to bring it back to its full capacity in order for its people to benefit.”
Trade commissioner Peter Mandelson went further, saying that he fully expected Iraq to take its place as a full member of the WTO in due course and that the EU “stood behind the Iraqi people every step of the way”.
Barham Saleh, Iraqi vice-prime minister, said that the start of negotiations showed that his country was “no longer a pariah” and that Iraq was now a “fully-fledged member of the international community”.
“Building a democracy at the heart of the Middle East will take time,” he said. “But these negotiations show that the days of dictatorship and tyranny are over and that Iraq wants to be a country at peace with itself and with its neighbours.”
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