EU Association Agreement Not Expected Soon -Website

Syria and the European Union will not ratify their association agreement in the near future, the pro-government website Syrian Days said in a September 27 article.



A member of the Syrian team negotiating with the EU over the economic accord downplayed recent media reports that the bilateral agreement would be signed in the near future, the website said.



Syrian media earlier this month quoted European diplomatic sources as saying that the EU was considering the ratification of the agreement in October, nine months after the initial signing of a draft agreement.



But the unnamed source told the website that the removal of political obstacles that have obstructed negotiations in the past did not automatically mean that the agreement would be signed soon.



He said that discussions over the export of some Syrian agricultural products, especially olive oil, were a long way from completion.



The official said that the national negotiating team was still in the process of preparing documents on Syrian agricultural products and meetings with the European side to discuss the issue have not yet been arranged.



He stressed that the Syrian team would push for the agreement to benefit the country’s economy in the best way possible.



Technical negotiations on the agreement were concluded in October 2004. However, the EU delayed the signing following the assassination in February 2005 of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, which was widely blamed on Syria.



Some European countries, like the Netherlands, still oppose the signing of the agreement with Damascus because of the country’s poor human rights record.