European Union Association Agreement


A European Union Association Agreement is a treaty between the European Union, 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 basis for the conclusion of the association agreements is provided by art. 217 TFEU.
Association Agreements are broad framework agreements between the EU 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:
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, and financial or technical assistance. Most recently signed AAs also include a Free Trade Agreement 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.

Names and types

AAs go by a variety of names 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 agreement were Greece and Turkey in.
In recent history, such agreements have been signed as part of two EU policies: Stabilisation and Association Process and European Neighbourhood Policy.
The countries of the western Balkans are covered by SAp. All six have "Stabilisation and Association Agreements" with the EU in force.
The countries of the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe neighbours are covered by ENP. Seven of the Mediterranean states have a "Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an Association" with the EU in force, while Palestine has an interim EMAA in force. Syria initialled an EMAA in 2008, however signing has been deferred indefinitely. Negotiations for a Framework Agreement with the remaining state, Libya, have been suspended. Moldova and Ukraine, of the Eastern Partnership, have Association Agreements in force. Armenia completed negotiations for a AA in 2013 but decided not to sign the agreement, while Azerbaijan has been negotiating an AA.
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.
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

Association Agreements

In force

In force

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Agriculture & Manufacturing

Trade agreements between the EU and other countries or free trade zones have differential effects on the respective economies. Agricultural industries are most significantly impacted when regional farms have to compete with large producers that gain access to markets when tariffs fall. For large agreements such as the AA with Mercosur, significant opposition exists in European countries against cheaper imports of meats and other products. However, for the manufacturing sector of cars and industrial products for export, usually involving larger global corporations, relevant volume increases are obvious for the more industrialised trade members.

Environment

The impact on the environment for those nations that export farm products from areas with rain forests or other ecologically relevant regions, for example in Brazil, has been increasingly documented by environmental groups opposing EU trade agreements. In addition, other industries with large environmental impact such as mining are expanding in areas where the regulatory burden is low, for example in South America and Asia. Industry groups have argued that increased economic performance in those sectors will only strengthen standards in participating nations, and that EU trade agreements should go hand in hand with harmonisation efforts for environmental regulations.