The European Union (EU) expressed full confidence in the interim government. As part of the political talks with Bangladesh and to enhance the partnership with the European Union, the 'Partnership and Cooperation Agreement' (PCA) has started. The two sides discussed the scale, scope and roadmap of the partnership during the two-day inaugural talks that began on Tuesday.
The Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is leading the discussion on behalf of Bangladesh. Nazrul Islam. On the other hand, the EU is led by the Deputy Managing Director of the External Action Service, Paola Pampolini.
In this regard, Nazrul Islam said on Wednesday (November 6), 'The most important thing in international relations is mutual respect and trust between the two sides. That relationship exists between Bangladesh and the EU. We have started discussions on how to increase the partnership between the two sides in trade, investment, peace and security, regional and global cooperation and other issues.
The whole process is political and has a roadmap, he said, “Hopefully we will be able to conclude the partnership and cooperation agreement negotiations within the next two years.”
He said, 'We have consensus on many issues. Apart from this, we will maintain our interests by considering the national interest in the light of reality.'
Note that in 2001, Bangladesh and EU signed a cooperation agreement. It had three foundations. They are trade, human rights and development. In addition to those three, the current partnership agreement includes security, regional and global cooperation, digital cooperation and other issues.
The EU has PCAs with many developing countries. The EU is negotiating the first PCA with Bangladesh among least developed countries.
The European Union is Bangladesh's largest export market. Last year, Bangladesh exported goods worth 25 billion dollars there. On the other hand, Bangladesh has taken a loan of about 100 million euros from the European Investment Bank for project support. Political contacts between the two sides are very close. About 10 EU countries have embassies in Bangladesh. On the other hand, Bangladesh has embassies in about 10 EU countries.
Elements of partnership agreement
In 2001, the Cooperation Agreement contained Article 21. On the other hand, the draft partnership agreement has 83 clauses. It is huge in size and content and a lot of material is attached here.
The elements covered in bold are – – peace and security; cooperation in regional and international organizations; trade and investment; Freedom, Security and Justice; and cooperation in other sectors.
The peace and security component includes issues such as disarmament, small arms control, counter-terrorism, among others.
Discussing the positions and interests of the two parties in other forums including the United Nations, World Trade Organization, ASEAN in cooperation with regional and international organizations.
Trade and investment components include sanitary and phytosanitary, sustainable food security, barriers to trade, customs cooperation, anti-dumping duties, investment, intellectual property, services and digital trade, among others.
The Freedom, Security and Justice component is a big one and many smaller components are linked here. These include gender equality, women's empowerment, protection of personal data, judicial and legal cooperation, consular protection, immigration, humanitarian cooperation, prevention of organized crime and corruption, prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, drug policy cooperation and other elements.
Cooperation in other sectors includes cooperation in the financial sector, good governance in the tax department, cooperation in small and medium enterprises, ICT, energy, climate change, logistics, education and health, agricultural cooperation among others.
Read more- The partnership with the European Union is growing, with negotiations starting in November
