EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

EU- PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION COMMITTEE

MINUTES of the TENTH MEETING

2-3 December 2009

BRUSSELS

CONTENTS

1. Adoption of draft agenda ...... 2 2. Adoption of the minutes of the ninth meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan PCC held in Brussels on 6-7 October 2008 ...... 2 3. The state of play of relations between the EU and Azerbaijan: ...... 2 - The implementation of the ENP Action Plan - The position of Azerbaijan on the Eastern Partnership Opening statements by: - Government of Azerbaijan - Presidency-in-Office of the Council of the European Union - European Commission 4. Follow-up to the recommendations of the Committee of 7 October 2008 ...... 8 5. The political situation in Azerbaijan: ...... 2 - Forthcoming local election of 23 December 2009 - Respect for human rights and basic freedom: freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion or belief 6. The economic and social situation:...... 9 - Social development in Azerbaijan - The effects of the global economic crisis and government social protection policies and protection of the environment 7. Regional issues and energy security: ...... 13 - Energy security perspectives: expansion of the Southern Energy Transport Corridor - The prospect for a breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - Cooperation in the Black Sea Region and in the Caspian Sea Region 8. Adoption of recommendations ...... 15 9. Any other business...... 15 10. Date and place of next meeting ...... 15

1 The tenth meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (PCC) opened on 2 December 2009 at 15.00, under the co-chairmanship of Mr Milan CABRNOCH (European Parliament) and Mr Valeh ALESKEROV (Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan).

Mr Milan CABRNOCH, Co-Chairman of the EU-Azerbaijan PCC warmly welcomed the Azerbaijani Delegation to Brussels and thanked all the participants in this meeting. He started his introductory statement by saying: "I would like to congratulate our European partners on a very important historical event: yesterday the Lisbon Treaty came into force and I believe this Treaty will be successfully implemented. All the member countries will benefit from this, but also third countries such as Azerbaijan will benefit from the implementation of this Treaty!"

1. The draft agenda was adopted.

2. The minutes of the ninth meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan PCC were adopted.

3. The state of play of relations between the EU and Azerbaijan: - The implementation of the ENP Action Plan - The position of Azerbaijan on the Eastern Partnership

5. The political situation in Azerbaijan: - Forthcoming local election of 23 December 2009 - Respect for human rights and basic freedom: freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion or belief

Points 3 and 5 were taken together.

Mr CABRNOCH gave the floor to Co-Chairman ALESKEROV for an introductory remark on behalf of the Azerbaijani Delegation.

Mr Valeh ALESKEROV, Co-Chairman of the EU-Azerbaijan PCC stated: the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) was concluded 10 years ago between Azerbaijan and the EU and now it constitutes the legal basis of our integration process. Our partnership has made substantial progress and should be now as a mutual benefit engagement that reflects the interests of both sides to take the bilateral cooperation to a new high level. This transformation shows that the shift in the Azerbaijani society has an impact on the building of a democratic society and market .

The European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan and the Eastern Partnership have opened new perspectives of cooperation with the European counterparts in several areas of common interest. We believe that only by supporting one another we could attain the objectives of this cooperation. The government of Azerbaijan elaborated a new report on the implementation of the action plan 2008 and submitted it to the European Commission this year. The Commission prepared a progress report and submitted it to Azerbaijan in April 2009. I have some general comments related to the progress report.

2 For instance, no progress has been noted in European activities to enhance its political support to the resolution of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. During the voting in the UN General Assembly, concerning all the resolutions about the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, 26 EU members countries abstained and one country voted against this resolution. Moreover, the EU member states have been requested to provide information for the United Nation General Assembly report; no information has been submitted. It also should be further noted that, concerning Georgia and Moldova, in the 2008 progress report, the support of the EU to the territorial integrity of these States is clearly mentioned. The progress report on Azerbaijan contains no reference to the support of the EU to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Concerning the Azerbaijani side, it should be noted that several serious achievements have been reached in areas of political, economic and social development, which were acknowledged by several international organisations. For example, in the business report, Azerbaijan made great efforts and climbed 64 places in the global world rankings. Today Azerbaijan is classified number 38 among the 183 countries listed in the report. Our region attracted more and more foreign investors. In 2008, the foreign direct investments constituted more than 11 billions $ with a significant part of investment in the non oil sector (information and technology sector, agriculture, tourism). The competition environment in Azerbaijan also changes a lot.

We were disappointed when we saw mentioned in the progress report of the Commission the following words: "There is limited progress in implementation of the Action plan". Such negative spirit of assessment does not encourage the process of economic and political reforms in Azerbaijan. These reforms are aimed at the modernization of all spheres of our lives through bringing and implement European Union standards and its best practices.

It would be useful that a careful study of the annual implementation reports submitted by Azerbaijan, and consultations with the Azerbaijani side are undertaken by the European Commission during the elaboration of the future progress reports. It could also contain specific recommendations from the European Commission and concrete proposals to boost the implementation of the Action plan. Additionally the EC could also intensify its efforts to expand its technical assistance to the areas identified in the progress report as requiring further attention.

And of course the Government of Azerbaijan takes the necessary measures to implement this action plan. First, we are inviting the representatives of the EU Delegation in Baku to actively participate in the work of the 9 working groups established within the State Commission on European Integration. Secondly we positively respond to the proposal to create 2 new subcommittees (human rights and democracy - social questions). Also there is the agreement that the Minister for foreign affairs in Azerbaijan will meet EU ambassadors more regularly in Baku to discuss and take the necessary measures about the implementation of the Action Plan.

Azerbaijan considers the Eastern Partnership as a good forum for bilateral relations with the European Commission. Each country has its pace of development and its economic development agenda; therefore we believe that mostly this Eastern Partnership should be working on a bilateral basis.

3 One of the most important issues is to implement European standards and best practices in Azerbaijan, and to harmonize the legislation of Azerbaijan with the European standards.

The energy sector is a very important part of our cooperation. But we don't think that our strategic partnership should be limited to the energy sector. It should cover other sectors and especially the human capacity. In this regard, Azerbaijan started several initiatives: first of all, the preparation and signature of a memorandum for a new strategic partnership in the field of and Research; secondly, the participation of our government in exchange programmes with the European Institutions, to gain experience. And the last one is the initiative of Azerbaijan to increase the visibility of the European Union in Azerbaijan. We already submitted these proposals to the European Commission and we hope that it will also support this project.

The Eastern Partnership should be completed by the signature of an Association Agreement.

In conclusion, some words about our cooperation in the parliamentary field. The government of Azerbaijan welcomes the collaboration in this field because it will help Azerbaijan to harmonise its legislation and practices with European standards. We welcome the initiative to establish the Euronest. We recommend paying more attention to the cooperation in the area of legislative harmonization. I have to note that I have raised this issue more than once; it must be our main field of activity. Uunfortunately we deal with all sorts of affairs, but the harmonization of legislation.

Mrs Sevinj HASANOVA, Deputy Minister for Economic Development: First of all I would like to congratulate the EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee and the people attending this meeting. I would like to wish a successful and good mutual understanding for the benefit of our citizens. Thanks for the invitation and the opportunity to present to you the news concerning the Azerbaijan economic situation for the nearest future.

As you know the global economical crisis that started last year and that has not ended today is still qualified as negative by the main economic global indicators. Investments and credits in the country have diminished. National currencies of many states have been devaluated. Unemployment has risen, and the majority of countries are witnessing the worsening of their . The same situation is present in the CIS countries. Azerbaijan as you know is a small open economy. We cannot avoid external shocks because we count on resources exports. Any changes in that area of course influence our country. However, the Azerbaijani authorities managed to reduce the negative impact of economic global crisis. This achievement has been the result of the consistent implementation of the economical transformation policies.

In 2005, Azerbaijan managed to resolve the crisis following the first years of independence. After the break of the , most of the CIS countries were in a deep crisis. The huge rate was 2000% /year! Since 2005, Azerbaijan is the fastest developing economy in the world. Azerbaijan non oil sector was growing in average more than 10% over the last 5 years. Massive public investments have been

4 made, as well as infrastructures rehabilitation including modernisation of the transit roads, energy generation and transmissions, water irrigation, tourism infrastructures development and social infrastructure including schools, hospitals and sport facilities. Comprehensive supportive measures for agriculture including subsidies, provisional agricultural resources have been adopted. Regional development programmes have been implemented successfully. All these measures have been realised under one condition: to have a minimum social effect. Pension's assistance and targeted social assistance projects have been implemented. All together, all these measures have contributed to reducing poverty by 3.5 times. All these results were achieved despite the serious crisis experienced by Azerbaijan.

According to the international financial institutions, Azerbaijan is among the countries which have experienced less the impact of the financial crises. In 2008 GDP has grown by 10.8%, industry 10.4 %, agriculture 4%, telecommunication by 14%, trade by almost 10% and transportation about 7%. Incomes of the population have risen by 8% and the average salaries also have risen by 14%. Inflation is not anymore a concern in Azerbaijan.

All these changes were also acknowledged by the World economic forum report, which states that, for 2009-2010, Azerbaijan moved 18 positions up and is now at the first position of the CIS countries. According to other reports, the GDP of Azerbaijan will grow in 2010 around 7-8% when the average estimates for other countries are around 5% only. Telecommunication will be in 2010 the faster sector to grow in Azerbaijan's economy. In general, all the sectors will grow positively.

Today our priorities are very clear. We would like to preserve the macro- economic stability achieved during the last years. Secondly we would like to develop our non oil economy, and for that we need to develop infrastructures, human capital and to conduct new reforms, to create a good business environment. We would like also to maintain food, energy and environmental security, to decrease poverty and to increase living standards.

All these goals have to be supported by the Eastern Partnership. We think that EU- Azerbaijan committees could really help to implement all the reforms of this Action plan.

Mr Huseyngula BAGIROV, Minister for Ecology and Natural Resources: it seems that the question of sustainable development and the presence of civil society in the process of democratisation are the two aspects of the same process. It's important to mention that dynamic economic growth shouldn't be approached without due consideration for environmental aspects. The environment is really a challenge for Azerbaijan. The environmental issues and the protection of resources should be better integrated in the strategic EU-Azerbaijan partnership. Our governmental priorities in this area are: provision of safe drinking water bottles, the recovering of all chemically contaminated territories, the protection of bio-diversity; on all these issues, we have an ongoing contact with NGOs and public opinion, and active environmentalists have regular meetings with the representatives of industry. It helps to build an open dialogue.

5 Talking about other areas, the access to drinking water is still a big issue in Azerbaijan; the pollution is coming mainly from other countries, which pollute our rivers. The government tried to provide access to drinking water with a priority to the rural regions. The benefits of these projects are that they are easy to implement within a really short time and their budget is very limited. We started the implementation of this programme in the end of 2007 and there is already access to water in 102 villages: in other words, 24000 people have already access to good quality water. The target is to cover 800 000 people living in the rural areas. The sanitary problems around the Caspian Sea are also a part of the agenda of Azerbaijani authorities.

Concerning energy savings, our objective is to switch all our facilities to more sustainable structures and resources in order to generate solar and wind energy, and to dispose of clean water. In 2010, there is a high probability that we will start to implement this project as well.

Mr. Hans Gunnar ADEN representing the European Union Council's Presidency in Office - As we are all well aware, the European Union attaches great importance to its relations with Azerbaijan. This fact is reflected in the great number of visits by European Union personalities to Azerbaijan. The EU Delegation in Baku is in permanent contact with the authorities in order to facilitate intensive and close relations with the European Union. We believe that Azerbaijan has a crucial role to play in the South-Caucasus as a key country for developing the links between the EU and this region. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Azerbaijan is now ten years old, and the European Neighbourhood Policy is now 3 years old. It is the right time to try to take stock of where we are. The EU neighbourhood policy continues to be a top priority for the European Union. Together with its neighbours, the EU tries to achieve prosperity, stability and security. Progress has already been achieved but many outstanding issues remain. We feel that the Azerbaijani government could make full use of the opportunity offered by the action plan to carry out economical and political reforms in the country. This is in particular the case in areas such as democracy, the rule of law, the fight against corruption, human rights, freedom of the Medias, freedom of assembly and sustainable economical development. We expect Azerbaijan's efforts to meet European values and principles which are at the basis of the partnership to continue. It's important for us to see Azerbaijan deliver more tangible results in these areas. The level of ambition of the EU for relationships with Azerbaijan will take in to account to efforts to implement these values and how these values are taken into consideration in the reality. Then the EU will be ready to continue this process.

Mrs Ulrike LUNACEK: I express gratitude for the willingness of Azerbaijan to engage in a regular dialogue with the EU on human rights, in the context of the Subcommittees on Justice, Liberty and Security and Human rights. These are all essential aspects of a healthy democracy and require sustained attention. We have all a special responsibility in this regard.

"The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Azerbaijan is now 10 years old. It is time now to think about an agreement of the new generation. The EU Council of March 2009 welcomed the establishment of an ambitious Eastern Partnership. It aims at creating the necessary conditions to accelerate political associations and further economic integration by supporting political and social reforms. The Eastern

6 Partnership was one of the main priorities of the Swedish Presidency. The foreign Ministers of the EU took a decision in September, in favour of the upgrading of our relationship with the 3 south Caucasus countries in the framework of the Eastern Partnership. The EU will try to develop its relations with these 3 countries with equal intensity, on the basis of merit and conditionality. The draft directive for negotiations with Azerbaijan has now been discussed internally in the EU. The new association agreement will be a comprehensive agreement, which will reflect the existing wide range of cooperation in political and economic areas and develop these areas further.

It should go above and beyond the existing cooperation agreement and commitment. The Association Agreement depends very much on how ambitious Azerbaijan wants to be. The Eastern Partnership makes a clear link between the strengthening of political and economic fields. Both aspects require a certain level of progress on reforms and the fulfilment of several conditions. As you are aware, the conditions refer to progress on democracy, rule of law, respect of human rights and freedom of the media. It is important that further efforts are made in the area of democratization and protection of human rights as well as meeting the international standards in the area of electoral practices especially in the context of the upcoming municipal elections in December.

Concerning the freedom of the media, let me also say that the EU is concerned with the verdict against the two bloggers. We hope that the Court will reverse the decision and release these two bloggers as soon as possible. This will demonstrate to the International Community that Azerbaijan takes seriously the media freedom international commitments it has subscribed to.

Coming to the multilateral context, we have conducted the first and the second round of multilateral meetings of the Eastern Partnership. We are convinced of the added- value of this new format of collaboration, as it provides a good opportunity to share experience with the EU states, the Commission and the concerned countries on a wide range of issues such as harmonisation of legislation or energy security.

The Foreign Ministers meeting about the Eastern Partnership which will take place here in Brussels in less than a week will allow us to jointly consider the progress made so far in the implementation of the Eastern Partnership and to discuss the way ahead. The Presidency hopes that the deliberations during this meeting will be in the sense of a strong reaffirmation of our commitment to the Partnership and the importance of moving ahead in the implementation of some of its parts.

In conclusion, the EU is fully committed to play an active, effective and visible role in its relations with Azerbaijan. We want to develop these relations in the context of a steady progress and of implementation of reforms for the benefit of all" (Statement of the Swedish Presidency of the EU).

Mr John KJAER, DG RELEX, the European Commission: I think that the PCCs are a very good complement to the official dialogue which is conducted in the context of our relations with third countries. I would like to say that Azerbaijan is a very important partner for the EU and in the European neighbourhood. It's strategically placed, it's a producer of energy resources and it is an important actor in the development of the Southern Corridor and as future transit country. It is important to

7 keep this in mind when we discuss with Azerbaijan. If you go back and look at the time since the last PCC, a lot has happened both in terms of multilateral and bilateral framework relations. On the multilateral framework, what happened is the adoption of the Eastern Partnership, which is now the policy framework for the EU relation with its Eastern neighbours. At the heart of this, is the objective of trying to associate politically and integrate economically our partners with the EU.

The intensity of the bilateral partnership depends on the respective aspirations of our partners as well as on the capacity to take some of the commitments mentioned before. To mention two examples: behind the energy cooperation there is the notion of improving mobility and increase justice, liberty and security records.

What have we done already? We have submitted our negotiating mandates. What we are doing now is to discuss in the Council of Ministers the negotiating mandate for Azerbaijan. We are putting forward proposals to try to reinforce the dialogue that we have already and to create additional subcommittees. We are creating committees where everybody can discuss in an open manner a number of issues that are relevant in the partnership and cooperation agreement. In our view, that will contribute to reinforce our relations. I would like to say that the conclusion of an association agreement is conditional to the fact that there is sufficient progress in terms of respect of our values, namely: democracy, rule of law, human rights. These values are at the basis of such agreement and are an objective of the agreement as well. We are trying to assess this progress together with other aspects related to the objectives of the Action Plan through the progress report. The progress report is the Commission assessment of progress.

Let me mention the energy dimension. Energy is important, we have now the historical signature of the Nabucco agreement and we can be proud of it as a concrete step. We took a new step in the field of energy, the EU constitutes now a stable and rule based market for energy.

4. Follow-up to the recommendations of the Committee of 7 October 2008

Mr CABRNOCH, Co-Chairman of the EU-Azerbaijan PCC: We are now moving to the point four of our agenda which is the follow up to the recommendations adopted at our last meeting held in October 2008. Over the last few years, the Azerbaijani authorities have been trying to achieve the main goals of the Azerbaijan policies, the Euro-Atlantic integration, the commitment to European values and to the principles of justice, respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The economical and social development of the country will lead to the result to offer to all citizens of Azerbaijan a good standard of living. Azerbaijan plays a really important role in the Black Sea and in the Caspian Sea, as far as the production, transit and export of energy trough Europe are concerned. Strong initiatives about environment regulation and protection will complete this positive image of Azerbaijan and its good reputation in the Black Sea Region.

*****

8 The second working session of the tenth meeting of the EU-Azerbaijan PCC opened on 3 December 2009 at 9.00 am.

In the Chair: Mr Valeh AKESKEROV, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Delegation to the EU-Azerbaijan PCC.

6. The economic and social situation:  Social development in Azerbaijan  The effects of the global economic crisis and government social protection policies and protection of the environment

Mr ALESKEROV gave the floor to Mr Natig GASIMOV.

Mr Natig GASIMOV, Chief of Department, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs: The government of Azerbaijan stresses that regular reforms have been made in the field of protection of social rights, according to the best practises which have been developed in the European Union. We have implemented these measures with the participation of a number of international organisations as the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Union or other organisations. We benefit from the introduction of good practices from the European Union in the field of social security. Certainly our major issue is to provide better opportunities for people by improving the system of social security, in order to offer better living conditions to the population. Azerbaijan is conducting a number of measures and actions plans to improve social security, regional and energy issues, education, refugees, and youth policies. Thirty-eight of these initiatives are in different states of implementation. Following the presidential decree of 2003, we have approved and successfully implemented the State programme of poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth. Following a number of studies, we have managed to reduce the unemployment level from 10.3% in 2003 to 6% in 2009.

We have approved more than eighteen different presidential ordinances concerning different aspects of social life. The amount of budget allocated for social policies has increased of 4.6 times. Consequently, the amount of social benefits per family increased of 2.5%. We realised as well that each family have to be treated individually in order to give the best response to their social needs.

According to the survey conducted by the World Bank, Azerbaijan and Ukraine share together the first two places among the CIS countries concerning the implementation of social reforms. In March 2010, we are expecting to be able to present the Azerbaijani model of implementation of targeted social programmes.

We increased the staff involved in these issues by adding 824 more staff members to our existing staff and we also increased the minimum salary 8.3 times. The minimum amount of labour pension increased 3.8 times. As a result of all these measures, we managed to decrease the poverty level in Azerbaijan from 49% down to 30.2%. We are involved in cooperation with different countries' authorities (, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, , Kuwait, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Philippines and ). We have signed and implemented almost 30 bilateral

9 agreements. Azerbaijan also started to implement a programme on decent employment.

To conclude, the interest of the European Union for Azerbaijan will certainly help the government of Azerbaijan to implement more and more social reforms/programmes.

Co-Chairman Mr ALESKEROV: I also want to add that this is our 10th meeting but since 2006 our relations are more and more constructive.

This meeting is really important because next year Azerbaijan is holding parliamentary elections. We need to take into consideration the fact that the future deputies who will come here for the next PCC meeting must understand this period of good cooperation. The meeting today is also taking place in the specific context of a financial crisis. It will be definitively not a temporary situation. We need to deal together with all the different aspects of the crisis.

Looking back to history, I would like to give my personal opinion on one of the most important issue for us on the agenda today: the harmonisation of our legislation to the existing legislation of the European Union by using the best practices. But still, I think we spend a lot of time on journalists' issue. I appreciate each citizen, I read newspapers and watch TV but if a journalist is detained with drugs then we are certainly talking about a crime issue.

We have to improve the business and other practices in our country. That's why the harmonisation of our legislation is so important.

Mr Fuad MURADOV stated as follows: "I also want to tell you that 20% of the Azerbaijani territory remains under occupation and this territory is subject to deforestation. Is there any legislation in Europe on which we can inspire to deal with this kind of situation? We are talking about journalists and bloggers but still the issue that I have raised remains out of our discussions. Other examples: the goldmines which have been found in the occupied territory are today exploited by the aggressor country! This kind of aggression has to be stopped".

Mr Chingiz ASADULLAYEV: "Despite the financial crisis, the national fund for entrepreneurship was set up to help small and middle entrepreneurs and since it started more than 500 millions $ were spent.

Concerning the negotiations between Azerbaijan and the WTO, we have decided to implement "one stop shop" initiative. It was a great success in the field of customs and social security and will be attractive for foreign investors into the economy of Azerbaijan.

Concerning the legalisation of illegally made fortunes, all the recommendations made have been considered and approved by the Parliament of Azerbaijan.

I hope that the Parliament will approve in December the competition code and also the urban development law.

10 From a geographical point of view, Azerbaijan is an important transit territory. That's why we managed to decrease the duties and taxes on the commodities more than three times.

In the meantime, the state budget is a really important issue on the agenda for us. Over the past years the state budget revenues increased more than 10 times. The government and the parliament decided that the budget for next year will be allocated for the completion of the investment programme already launched.

Mr Fuad MURADOV: "the Parliament of Azerbaijan always expressed its motivation to cooperate with the EU and showed its capacity to be a reliable partner. We need to consecrate our efforts to matching the objectives of harmonisation of the legislation of Azerbaijan to the EU standards".

Mr KIRILOV mentioned that big progress has been made in terms of social reforms in Azerbaijan and especially in terms of education, which is crucial. For this reason it's crucial to diversify the sources of the incomes. Invest in the young generation is a priority and decisive for the future of the country. For the moment, some investments have been already made in schools trough new equipments, like computers, which is a really positive thing. Despite that fact, there is a lot more to be done.

Mrs HASANOVA mentioned that her intervention would focus on the role of agriculture in the economy of Azerbaijan (the agricultural sector represents 40% of the employment in Azerbaijan). Azerbaijan realised that the main problem with the world wide crisis is the raise of unemployment. For the government the major task to fulfil in the future is to create jobs. The government of Azerbaijan believes that the agricultural sector could be a great source of employment; that's why special measures have been taken. For example, the agriculture sector doesn't have to pay taxes (only landscape taxes); the government also provided subsidies for developing agriculture. All these reforms helped to develop food security in the country and a sustainable growth in the long term. An action programme was developed with the EU for 2009 to support the agricultural sector and food security. Unfortunately the amount allocated for this programme was reduced from eighteen millions to fourteen millions Euros. This programme has now to be signed by the EU side.

Mr CABRNOCH mentioned that the EU will certainly support this programme as it's very important for the economic development of Azerbaijan.

Mr MURADOV stated that he would speak about the same issues mentioned before. For the last five years, a number of schools were built; a special programme for students wanting to study abroad was set up. European education is highly considered in Azerbaijan and could be a good example and a hope for future cooperation. In the budget of next year, one billion Euros will be dedicated to education (10% of the total state budget for next year). Azerbaijan wants to invest for its young generation but need the European experience.

Mr ALESKEROV pointed out that more than 1000 schools had been constructed and renovated and new education laws (sport, health, culture) have been adopted by the Parliament.

11 Mr BREZINA asked the Azerbaijan delegation if they would be interested in exchanging good practices about health care and social policy with individual EU members States. He also appreciated the interest of Mr MURADOV for education as a main issue in order to build further cooperation and competitiveness but also making the people able to be employed.

Mrs LUNACEK emphasised the importance to increase the students' exchange programmes as one of the most important things in the process of globalization. She mentioned that this exchange is not possible without a reflexion on human rights and freedom of speech. If young people travel around the world, they will also bring back to the home country foreign values such as a free access to internet, to information and the right to criticise their authorities. And this fact has to be considered positively. She also asked a question concerning the state of the rights of women in the context of the crisis. How childcare is managed in Azerbaijan considering also that the education level of women is very high in Azerbaijan.

Mr MURADOV stressed that an improvement in this sense had been made considering students exchange programmes since the Soviet times. He informed that the question of equality between men and women was taken into account by the government of Azerbaijan. He also mentioned that the government was really interested to hear from abroad other experiences on students' exchanges but could not accept actions going against the law. The rule of law is very important for Azerbaijan.

Mrs HASANOVA underlined that, for its economic development, Azerbaijan needs well educated people. Unemployment today is more structural in Azerbaijan; that's why high education is really important especially in agriculture and health sectors. On the women situation, it used to be a bad situation but now, from a legal point of view, everything is on track. She informed that women have all the rights and there is no legal discrimination against women. Women work mostly in health and education sectors.

Mr ASADULLAYEV mentioned that even if women give birth to children, it doesn't mean that women should have less chance to have access to public or private jobs opportunities or education opportunities. The government has to promote special measures to help fathers stay at home and take care of the children.

Mr ALESKEROV stressed that more than 80 % of jobs in the education sector is held by women. In the health sector the proportion is 60% against 40% in favour of women. In scientific areas or high education, more than 60% of the staff is female. It is the individual choice of the family to choose who will look after the children. This is not really a problem in Azerbaijan even if Azerbaijan is a Muslim country. In this issue, Azerbaijan is more progressive than some European countries. He informed that emancipation of women is not a problem in Azerbaijan.

Mr CABRNOCH highlighted the importance to keep freedom in the decisions on child care, it should not become mandatory. He also stressed the risks involved in the practical transposition of European legislation without adopting the values of the EU, including in particular the respect of the rule of law and human rights.

12 Mr ALESKEROV mentioned that, in his opinion, the new subcommittees on social and humanitarian issues, covering education and healthcare questions, is due to start their activities shortly.

Mr THALER commented that, when the issue of the two bloggers was approached, everybody started to feel uncomfortable. A new system should be implemented in order to protect people against unfounded arrests. He concluded by mentioning that the debate was very interesting and Azerbaijan was very lucky to have all these natural resources which provide for a stable income to the state.

Mr ALESKEROV concluded the point concerning the social and economic issues in Azerbaijan. Thousands of Azerbaijani students are studying abroad. He emphasised also that no one in Azerbaijan was afraid of criticisms. It would be possible for the European Parliament delegation during the next PCC in Baku to see by themselves through the newspapers and the local TV that the Azerbaijani authorities were open to criticism.

Mr KIRILOV mentioned that the issue of the two bloggers was taken seriously by the European Parliament. There was an internal and important movement in the European Parliament aimed at taking urgent measures to deal with the situation of these two bloggers. That story had produced a dark image of Azerbaijan. He asked also why the sentence was so heavy.

7. Regional issues and energy security: - Energy security perspectives: expansion of the Southern Energy Transport Corridor - The prospect for a breakthrough in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict - Cooperation in the Black Sea Region and in the Caspian Sea Region

Mr LANDSBERGIS noted that the terminology "Azerbaijan" used in the draft joint recommendations was quite confusing as it didn't describe in detail the people and the territory of Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh issue).

Mr ISGANDAROV stressed as well the importance to define Azerbaijan. Every country should acknowledge Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Was it accepted or not by all the countries? It's a really important issue for Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a multicultural country and everybody lives in harmony (more than 100 Russian schools). In this is not the case at all. He emphasised that the European Union uses a lot the self-determination concept. What does it mean for the nations? The whole European Union could collapse, in theory, on the basis of that concept. This issue has to be solved in the framework of the international community.

Mr LANDSBERGIS apologised to start with such a tricky issue which, he was aware, had created directly a Tsunami. He stressed that the draft recommendations had to be improved. The authorities of Azerbaijan should take the initiative in this regard.

Mr ALESKEROV drew attention of those present to the fact that the reform process in all the CIS was a very long and complicated story as it was not easy to transform a country where you have had a dictatorial regime into a democratic state and a liberal market. Unfortunately there were still heritages from the Soviet times. It's very

13 positive that Azerbaijan wants to share the European values. The Eastern Partnership is an excellent basis to develop further relations and association agreements with the European Union but it will also help to share the European values including democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Mr ASSADULAYEV mentioned that the draft recommendations (paragraph six) contained sentences which reflected a mutual misunderstanding. Maybe some people intentionally or unintentionally had tried to introduce an opinion concerning the pipelines transit. Azerbaijan was open to any kind of transit. This issue had to be resolved a soon as possible. If every single transit country insisted on its own terms of transit, then the gas would never reach the consumers' countries.

Mr ALESKEROV agreed that it was definitively not a good idea to put too much emphasis on transit of pipelines. Nabucco has been an issue for years and nothing has come out of it yet. With the Lisbon Treaty it will be much easier to harmonise the position of the 27 EU countries. He noted a significant progress in this respect. The last meeting in Turkey was very positive. Today there are bigger markets for Azerbaijani gas, including Russia, Iran, Georgia, Turkey, and of course the biggest and most trustable market is the European Union (but not the only one). What the European Union wants is to be a little bit less dependant on Russia. The most important thing is to make all the actors satisfied.

Mr KIRILOV noted that Azerbaijan can't continue to invest millions of dollars without the guarantee of valid and stable contractual conditions for at least ten years. Azerbaijan has stocks ready for use and infrastructure ready for transit but can't wait seven years or more. It's very difficult for Azerbaijan to deal with the different positions of Iran, Russia, the European Union, China and Turkey. With Russia, it's a state deal (Gazprom), for Iran it's the same and for the European Union it's not the case at all. Without the support of all the European governments it will be very difficult to realise important projects as Nabucco.

Mrs HERCZOG underlined that Nabucco is the main project of the European Union in the field of energy. Europe is not a super-state organisation. Energy is still subject to the sovereignty of member states. Despite the Lisbon Treaty, energy is not a community policy. Still, the European Union did something: the third energy package. As soon as this third package will be implemented, the European Union common position for gas will be effective. She also mentioned that Nabucco is a great project. What everybody needs is a kind of Bretton Woods for the energy market. She also emphasised her satisfaction to see that Azerbaijan is considering that the renewable energy conversion is also important.

Mr ALESKEROV replied that Azerbaijan has already demonstrated its ability to participate in big projects but also mentioned that Azerbaijan can't force transit and consumer countries to make deals. Azerbaijan is a small country and cannot pay for everything. Azerbaijan is ready to cooperate and just wait a clear sign from Europe.

Mr THALER emphasised that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been continuing for the past 20 years and has been very painful for a lot of people. This conflict cannot be resolved by two governments alone. Azerbaijan has been recognised by the international community. Unfortunately it's not possible to resolve such a complicated

14 conflict with a black and white solution. He agreed that Armenia should make more efforts to recognise the interests and position of Azerbaijan. The interests of each side have to be recognized by both parties. Mutual trust among neighbourhood countries has to be strengthened.

Mr LANDSBERGIS stressed that the sharing of European values is the way to get out of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Before the signature of a peace resolution, both parties have to live together under European conditions. It's the role of the European Union to facilitate such understanding.

8. Adoption of recommendations

Mr ALESKEROV informed those present that the meeting would finish in 5 minutes as the Co-Chairs had to leave and asked to meet in a small group to discuss about the adoption of the Statement and Recommendations. However, he also mentioned that unless the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts, the demand for the liberation of these occupied territories would not be unequivocally mentioned in the statement and recommendations, no statement and recommendations would be adopted.

The audience discussed about the issue to meet or not in a small group in order to discuss the final document. A number of members disagreed on the terms used in the draft concerning the lack of a clear mention that the European Union does recognise the Nagorno-Karabakh territory and the seven adjacent districts of Azerbaijan as integral part of Azerbaijan.

Given the multitude of divergent points of view between the Members of both delegations, the PCC decided to renounce adopting a Final Statement and Recommendations.

9. Any other business

None

10. Date and place of next meeting

It was agreed that the date and place of the next PCC meeting will be decided at a later stage.

******

15 BILAG/ANLAGE/ΠΑΡΑΡΤΗΜΑ/ANNEX/ ANNEXE/ALLEGATO/BIJLAGE/ANEXO/BILAGA

DELTAGERLISTE/ANWESENHEITSLISTE/ΚΑΤΑΣΤΑΣΗ ΠΑΡΟΝΤΩΝ/RECORD OF ATTENDANCE/LISTA DE ASISTENCIA/LISTE DE PRESENCE/ELENCO DEI PRESENTI/PRESENTIELIJST/LISTA DE PRESENÇAS/LÄSNÄOLOLISTA/DELTAGARLISTA

Til stede Formandskabet/Vorstand/Πρoεδρείo/Bureau/Ufficio di Presidenza/Mesa/Puhemiehistö/J.L. Presidium: (*)

CABRNOCH (Chair)*+, THALER (1st Vice-Chair)*+, LANDSBERGIS (2nd Vice-Chair)*+

Anwesend Medlemmer/Mitglieder/Μέλη/Members/Diputados/Députés/Deputati/Leden/Deputados/jäsenet/

BREZINA*+, HERCZOG+, KIRILOV*+, LUNACEK*+, SZYMANSKI*

Παρόvτες Stedfortrædere/Stellvertreter/Αvαπληρωτές/Substitutes/Suplentes/Suppléants/ Membri supplenti/Plaatsvervangers/Membros suplentes/Varajäsenet/Suppleanter:

Present

Presentes

Présents

Presenti

Aanwezig

Läsnä

Närvarande

Art. 147,7 /Art. 178.2

Art. 166,3/ Art. 183.3

Art. 162.6 Endv. Deltog/Weitere Teiln./ Συμμετείχαv επίσης/Also present Participaron igualmente/ Participaient également/ Hanno partecipato altresi/ Andere deelnemers/ Outros participantes/ Muut osallistujat/ Dessutom deltog

(Dagsorden/Tagesordnung Pkt/Ημερήσια Διάταξη Σημεί/Point OJ/Punto OG/Agenda Punt/Ordem do dia- punto/punto orden del dia/ Esityslista Kohta/Föredragningslista punkt):

* (P) =Formand/Vorsitzender/Πρόεδρoς/Chairman/Président/Presidente/Voorzitter/Presidente/Puhemies/Ordförande (VP) =Næstform./Stellv. Vorsitz./Αvτιπρόεδρoς/Vice-Chairman/Vice-Président/Vicepresidente/Varapuhemies Ondervoorz./Vice-Pres./Vicepres/Vice ordförande.

Til stede den/Anwesend am/Παρώv στις/Present on/Présent le/Presente il/Aanwezig op/Presente em/Presente el/Läsnä/Närvarande den.

(*) 02.12.2009 (+) 03.12.2009 Efter indbydelse fra formanden/Auf Einladung d. Vorsitzenden/Με πρόσκληση τoυ Πρoέδρoυ/At the invitation of the Chairman/Por invitación del presidente/Sur l'invitation du président/Su invito del presidente/Op uitnodiging van de voorzitter/A convite do presidente/Puhemiehen kutsusta/ På ordförandens inbjudan:

Radet/Rat/Συμβoύλιo/Council/Consejo/Conseil/Consiglio/Raad/Conselho/Neuvosto/Rådet: (*) ADEN

Kommissionen/Kommission/Επιτρoπή/Commission/Comisión/Commissione/Commissie/Commissão/Komissio/ Kommissionen: (*) KJAER, GATT-RUTER

Missions/Ambassades: ABBASALIYEV, MUSTAFAYEV (Azerbaijan) KHACHATRYAN (Armenia), GHERASIU (Moldova)

Andre deltagere/Andere Teilnehmer Επίσης Παρόvτες/Also present Otros participantes/Autres participants/Altri partecipanti Andere aanwezigen/Outros participantes Muut osallistujat/Övriga deltagare

Gruppernes sekretariat PPE-DE HANNIBAL, RIHA, DZEMIDZENKA Sekretariat der Fraktionen S&D MATEI Γραμματεία τωv Πoλ. Ομάδωv ALDE DE CRAYENCOUR Secretariat political groups ECR Secr. de los grupos politicos Verts/ALE BERGAMASCHI Secr. groupes politiques GUE/NGL Segr. dei gruppi politici EFD Secr. van de fracties NI Secr. dos grupos politicos Puolueryhmien sihteeristö Gruppernas sekretariat

Cab. du Président .

Cab. du Secrétaire Général

Generaldirektorat I Generaldirektion II Γεvική Διεύθυvση III EXPO: Directorate-General IV UDINA, REY, SOURANDER, SAMUSHIA, GRZYBOWSKA Dirección general V Direction générale VI Direzione generale VII Directoraat-generaal VIII Direcção general Contrôle financier Service juridique Pääosasto Generaldirektorat

Udvalgssekretariatet Ausschußsekretariat POPESCU-BLACK Γραμματεία επιτρoπής Committee secretariat Secretaria de la comisión Secrétariat de la commission Segretariato della commissione Commissiesecretariaat Secretaria de comissão Valiokunnan sihteeristö Utskottssekretariatet SCHMUTTERER, CLAES Assist./Βoηθός

* (P) =Formand/Pres./Πρόεδρoς/Chairman/Président/Voorzitter/Puhemies/Ordförande (VP) =Næstform./Vize-Pres./Αvτιπρόεδρoς/Vice-Chairman/Vice-Président/Ondervoorz./Vice-pres/Varapuhemies/Vice ordförande. (M) =Medlem./Mitglied/Μέλoς/Member/Miembro/Membre/Membro/Lid/Membro/Jäsen/Ledamot F) = Tjenestemand/Beamter/Υπάλληλoς/Official/Funcionario/Fonctionnaire/Funzionario/Ambtenaar/ Functionário/Virkamies/Tjänsteman

17 EU-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committee

TENTH MEETING 2-3 December 2009 Brussels

AZERBAIJANI DELEGATION

Members of the Milli Mejlis

MrValeh ALESKEROV Independent Chairman Deputy Speaker of the Milli Mejlis

Mr Fuad MURADOV Independent; Vice-Chairman Human Rights Committee

Mr Rauf ALIYEV New Azerbaijan Party; Social Policy Committee Mr Nizami ISGANDAROV New Azerbaijan Party; Legal Policy and Institutional Building Committee Mr Chingiz ASADULLAYEV Independent; Deputy Chairman of the Economic Policy Committee Mr Ilyas ISMAYILOV opposition (Party of Justice); Human Rights Committee Mr Rovshan RZAYEV Independent; Deputy Chairman of the Legal Policy and Institutional and Building Committee

Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr Mahmud MAMED-GULIYEV, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Mr Huseyngulu BAGIROV, Minister for Ecology and Natural Resources Mrs Sevinj HASANOVA, Deputy Minister for Economic Development Mr Natig GASIMOV, Chief of Department, Ministry for Labour and Social Protection Mr Rasim SATTARZADE, Head of the Ecology Policy Department

Secretariat of the Milli Mejlis: Mr Rahim Akhundov - Secretary of delegation

Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan: H.E. Mr Emin EYYUBOV, Ambassador Mr Fakhraddin ISMAYILOV, Counsellor

2 December 2009/es

18