EC/Uzbekistan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement

The Committee adopted without amendment the report by Anne Andre-Leonard (ELDR, B) which gives assent to the proposed Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Uzbekistan.. The Agreement was signed in June 1996 but the Committee had delayed its ratification as it wished to monitor the human rights situation in Uzbekistan. However an interim agreement covering trade matters díd enter into force. In view of the attempts by the Uzbek government to improve the human rights situation and to promote democracy, Mrs Andre-Leonard can now give her approval to the agreement, however she wants the situation to be closely monitored. The accord is almost identical to other partnership agreements with countries of the former Soviet Union and lays down the framework for extensive cooperation between the EU and Uzbekistan in many fields (excluding military matters).�