21999A0917(01)
Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European
Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the
Republic of Azerbaijan, of the other part - Protocol on mutual
assistance between authorities in customs matters - Final Act -
Joint Declarations - Exchange of Letters in relation to the
establishment of companies - Declaration of the French Government
Dates:
OF DOCUMENT: 22/04/1999
OF EFFECT: 01/07/1999; ENTRY INTO FORCE SEE ART 104 AND OJ L
261/99 P. 41
OF SIGNATURE: 22/04/1996; LUXEMBOURG
OF END OF VALIDITY: 99/99/9999
Authentic language: THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES ; DANISH ; GERMAN ; GREEK
; SPANISH ; FRENCH ; ITALIAN ; DUTCH ; PORTUGUESE ; FINNISH ;
SWEDISH ; ENGLISH ; OTHER THAN COMMUNITY LANGUAGE ; AZERBAIJANI
Author:
EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY ; EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY
; THE 15 MEMBER STATES ; BELGIUM ; DENMARK ; FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF
GERMANY ; GREECE ; SPAIN ; FRANCE ; IRELAND ; FRANCE ; LUXEMBOURG ;
NETHERLANDS ; AUSTRIA ; PORTUGAL ; FINLAND ; SWEDEN ; UNITED KINGDOM
; AZERBAIJAN
Subject matter: EXTERNAL RELATIONS ; PROVISIONS IMPLEMENTING ARTICLE
95 - ECSC ; COOPERATION
Directory code: 11406000
EUROVOC descriptor: cooperation agreement ; Azerbaijan ; EC
agreement ; EC countries
Legal basis:
197E044-P2................ ADOPTION
197E047-P2F3.............. ADOPTION
197E055................... ADOPTION
197E071................... ADOPTION
197E080-P2................ ADOPTION
197E093................... ADOPTION
197E094................... ADOPTION
197E133................... ADOPTION
197E308................... ADOPTION
197E300-P2F2.............. ADOPTION
197E300-P3L2.............. ADOPTION
151K095................... ADOPTION
157A101-L2................ ADOPTION
Instruments cited:
294A1231(52)..............
294A1231(53)..............
294A1223(01)..............
294A1223(09)..............
279A0412(06)..............
294A1223(16)..............
396R1279..................
298A1022(02)..............
Amendment to:
290A0315(01)...... AMENDMENT..... PARTIAL REPLACEMENT
Amended by:
ADOPTED-BY.... 399D0614..........
PARTNERSHIP AND COOPERATION AGREEMENT
between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one
part, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, of the other part
THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM,
THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK,
THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,
THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,
THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN,
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,
IRELAND,
THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,
THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG,
THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS,
THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA,
THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC,
THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND,
THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN,
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,
Contracting Parties to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel
Community and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy
Community,
hereinafter referred to as "Member States", and
THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, THE EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY, AND
THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY,
hereinafter referred to as "the Community",
of the one part, and
THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN,
of the other part,
CONSIDERING the links between the Community, its Member States and
the Republic of Azerbaijan and the common values that they share,
RECOGNISING that the Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan wish
to strengthen these links and to establish partnership and
cooperation which would strengthen and widen the relations
established in the past in particular by the Agreement between the
European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community
and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on trade and commercial
and economic cooperation, signed on 18 December 1989, which, since
the dissolution of the USSR, applies mutatis mutandisto bilateral
relations between the European Communities and each of the
Independent States,
CONSIDERING the commitment of the Community and its Member States
and of the Republic of Azerbaijan to strengthening the political and
economic freedoms which constitute the very basis of the
partnership,
RECOGNISING in that context that support of the independence,
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan
will contribute to the safeguarding of peace and stability in
Europe,
CONSIDERING the commitment of the Parties to promote international
peace and security, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes
and to cooperate to this end in the framework of the United Nations
and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
DESIROUS of encouraging the process of regional cooperation in the
areas covered by this Agreement with neighbouring countries in order
to promote the prosperity and stability of the region and in
particular initiatives aimed at fostering cooperation and mutual
confidence among Independent States of the Transcaucasus region and
other neighbouring States,
CONSIDERING the firm commitment of the Community and its Member
States and of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the full implementation
of all principles and provisions contained in the Final Act of the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), the
Concluding Documents of the Madrid and Vienna Follow-up Meetings,
the Document of the CSCE Bonn Conference on Economic Cooperation,
the Charter of Paris for a New Europe and the CSCE Helsinki Document
1992 "The challenges of change", and other fundamental documents of
the OSCE,
CONVINCED of the paramount importance of the rule of law and respect
for human rights, particularly those of persons belonging to
minorities, the establishment of a multiparty system with free and
democratic elections and economic liberalisation aimed at setting up
a market economy,
BELIEVING that full implementation of this Partnership and
Cooperation Agreement will both depend on and contribute to
continuation and accomplishment of the political, economic and legal
reforms in the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the introduction
of the factors necessary for cooperation, notably in the light of
the conclusions of the CSCE Bonn Conference,
DESIROUS of establishing and developing regular political dialogue
on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest,
RECOGNISING AND SUPPORTING the wish of the Republic of Azerbaijan to
establish close cooperation with European Institutions,
CONSIDERING the necessity of promoting investment in the Republic of
Azerbaijan, including in the energy sector, and in this context the
importance attached by the Community and its Member States to
equitable conditions for access to and transit for export of energy
products; confirming the attachment of the Community and its Member
States and of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the European Energy
Charter, and to the full implementation of the Energy Charter Treaty
and the Energy Charter Protocol on energy efficiency and related
environmental aspects,
TAKING ACCOUNT of the Community's willingness to provide for
economic cooperation and technical assistance as appropriate,
BEARING IN MIND the utility of the Agreement in favouring a gradual
rapprochement between the Republic of Azerbaijan and a wider area of
cooperation in Europe and neighbouring regions and its progressive
integration into the open international system,
CONSIDERING the commitment of the Parties to liberalise trade, in
conformity with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules,
CONSCIOUS of the need to improve conditions affecting business and
investment, and conditions in areas such as establishment of
companies, labour, provision of services and capital movements,
CONVINCED that this Agreement will create a new climate for economic
relations between the Parties and in particular for the development
of trade and investment, which are essential to economic
restructuring and technological modernisation,
DESIROUS of establishing close cooperation in the area of
environment protection taking into account the interdependence
existing between the Parties in this field,
RECOGNISING that cooperation for the prevention and control of
illegal immigration constitutes one of the primary objectives of
this Agreement,
DESIROUS of establishing cultural cooperation and improving the flow
of information,
HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
A partnership is hereby established between the Community and its
Member States of the one part, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, of
the other part. The objectives of this partnership are:
- to provide an appropriate framework for the political dialogue
between the Parties allowing the development of political relations,
- to support the Republic of Azerbaijan's efforts to consolidate its
democracy and to develop its economy and to complete the transition
into a market economy,
- to promote trade and investment and harmonious economic relations
between the Parties and so to foster their sustainable economic
development,
- to provide a basis for legislative, economic, social, financial,
civil scientific, technological and cultural cooperation.
TITLE I
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Article 2
Respect for democracy, principles of international law and human
rights as defined in particular in the United Nations Charter, the
Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris for a New Europe, as
well as the principles of market economy, including those enunciated
in the documents of the CSCE Bonn Conference, underpin the internal
and external policies of the Parties and constitute essential
elements of partnership and of this Agreement.
Article 3
The Parties consider that it is essential for their future
prosperity and stability that the newly independent States which
have emerged from the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, hereinafter called "Independent States", should maintain
and develop cooperation among themselves in compliance with the
principles of the Helsinki Final Act and with international law and
in the spirit of good neighbourly relations and will make every
effort to encourage this process.
Article 4
The Parties shall as appropriate review changing circumstances in
the Republic of Azerbaijan, in particular regarding economic
conditions there and implementation of market-oriented economic
reforms. The Cooperation Council may make recommendations to the
Parties concerning development of any part of this Agreement in the
light of these circumstances.
TITLE II
POLITICAL DIALOGUE
Article 5
A regular political dialogue shall be established between the
Parties which they intend to develop and intensify. It shall
accompany and consolidate the rapprochement between the Community
and the Republic of Azerbaijan, support the political and economic
changes underway in that country and contribute to the establishment
of new forms of cooperation. The political dialogue:
- will strengthen the links of the Republic of Azerbaijan with the
Community and its Member States, and thus with the community of
democratic nations as a whole. The economic convergence achieved
through this Agreement will lead to more intense political
relations,
- will bring about an increasing convergence of positions on
international issues of mutual concern thus increasing security and
stability in the region and promoting the future development of the
Independent States of the Transcaucasus,
- shall foresee that the Parties endeavour to cooperate on matters
pertaining to the strengthening of stability and security in Europe,
the observance of the principles of democracy, and the respect and
promotion of human rights, particularly those of persons belonging
to minorities and shall hold consultations, if necessary, on
relevant matters.
Such dialogue may take place on a regional basis, with a view to
contributing towards the resolution of regional conflicts and
tensions.
Article 6
At ministerial level, political dialogue shall take place within the
Cooperation Council established in Article 81 and on other occasions
by mutual agreement.
Article 7
Other procedures and mechanisms for political dialogue shall be set
up by the Parties, and in particular in the following forms:
- regular meetings at senior official level between representatives
of the Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and
representatives of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the other hand,
- taking full advantage of diplomatic channels between the Parties
including appropriate contacts in the bilateral as well as the
multilateral field, such as United Nations, OSCE meetings and
elsewhere,
- any other means, including the possibility of expert meetings
which would contribute to consolidating and developing this
dialogue.
Article 8
Political dialogue at parliamentary level shall take place within
the framework of the Parliamentary Cooperation Committee established
in Article 86.
TITLE III
TRADE IN GOODS
Article 9
1. The Parties shall accord to one another most-favoured-nation
treatment in all areas in respect of:
- customs duties and charges applied to imports and exports,
including the method of collecting such duties and charges,
- provisions relating to customs clearance, transit, warehouses and
transhipment,
- taxes and other internal charges of any kind applied directly or
indirectly to imported goods,
- methods of payment and the transfer of such payments,
- the rules relating to the sale, purchase, transport, distribution
and use of goods on the domestic market.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to:
(a) advantages granted with the aim of creating a customs union or a
free-trade area or pursuant to the creation of such a union or area;
(b) advantages granted to particular countries in accordance with
WTO rules and with other international arrangements in favour of
developing countries;
(c) advantages accorded to adjacent countries in order to facilitate
frontier traffic.
3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply, during a
transitional period expiring on the date of the Republic of
Azerbaijan acceding to the WTO or on 31 December 1998, whichever is
earlier, to advantages defined in Annex I granted by the Republic of
Azerbaijan to other states which have emerged from the dissolution
of the USSR.
Article 10
1. The Parties agree that the principle of free transit is an
essential condition of attaining the objectives of this Agreement.
In this connection each Party shall secure unrestricted transit via
or through its territory of goods originating in the customs
territory or destined for the customs territory of the other Party.
2. The rules described in Article V, paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5, of
the GATT are applicable between the two Parties.
3. The rules contained in this Article are without prejudice to any
special rules relating to specific sectors, in particular such as
transport, or products agreed between the Parties, or to the
provisions of Article 90.
Article 11
Without prejudice to the rights and obligations stemming from
international conventions on the temporary admission of goods which
bind both Parties, each Party shall furthermore grant the other
Party exemption from import charges and duties on goods admitted
temporarily, in the instances and according to the procedures
stipulated by any other international convention on this matter
binding upon it, in conformity with its legislation. Account shall
be taken of the conditions under which the obligations stemming from
such a convention have been accepted by the Party in question.
Article 12
1. Goods originating in the Republic of Azerbaijan shall be imported
into the Community free of quantitative restrictions without
prejudice to the provisions of Articles 14, 17 and 18 of this
Agreement.
2. Goods originating in the Community shall be imported into the
Republic of Azerbaijan free of all quantitative restrictions and
measures of equivalent effect without prejudice to the provisions of
Articles 14, 17 and 18 of this Agreement.
Article 13
Goods shall be traded between the Parties at market-related prices.
Article 14
1. Where any product is being imported into the territory of one of
the Parties in such increased quantities or under such conditions as
to cause or threaten to cause injury to domestic producers of like
or directly competitive products, the Community or the Republic of
Azerbaijan, whichever is concerned, may take appropriate measures in
accordance with the following procedures and conditions.
2. Before taking any measures, or in cases to which paragraph 4
applies as soon as possible thereafter, the Community or the
Republic of Azerbaijan as the case may be, shall supply the
Cooperation Council with all relevant information with a view to
seeking a solution acceptable to both Parties as provided for in
Title XI.
3. If, as a result of the consultations, the Parties do not reach
agreement within 30 days of referral to the Cooperation Council on
actions to avoid the situation, the Party which requested
consultations shall be free to restrict imports of the products
concerned to the extent and for such time as is necessary to prevent
or remedy the injury, or to adopt other appropriate measures.
4. In critical circumstances where delay would cause damage
difficult to repair, the Parties may take the measures before the
consultations, on the condition that consultations shall be offered
immediately after taking such action.
5. In the selection of measures under this Article, the Contracting
Parties shall give priority to those which cause least disturbance
to the achievement of the aims of this Agreement.
6. Nothing in this Article shall prejudice or affect in any way the
taking, by either Party, of anti-dumping or countervailing measures
in accordance with Article VI of the GATT, the Agreement on
implementation of Article VI of the GATT, the Agreement on
interpretation and application of Articles VI, XVI and XXIII of the
GATT or related internal legislation.
Article 15
The Parties undertake to consider development of the provisions in
this Agreement on trade in goods between them, as circumstances
allow, including the situation arising from the accession of the
Republic of Azerbaijan to the WTO. The Cooperation Council may make
recommendations on such developments to the Parties which could be
put into effect, where accepted, by virtue of agreement between the
Parties in accordance with their respective procedures.
Article 16
This Agreement shall not preclude prohibitions or restrictions on
imports, exports or goods in transit justified on grounds of public
morality, public policy or public security; the protection of health
and life of humans, animals or plants; the protection of natural
resources; the protection of national treasures of artistic,
historic or archaeological value or the protection of intellectual,
industrial and commercial property or rules relating to gold and
silver. Such prohibitions or restrictions shall not, however,
constitute a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised
restriction on trade between the Parties.
Article 17
This Title shall not apply to trade in textile products falling
under Chapters 50 to 63 of the Combined Nomenclature. Trade in these
products shall be governed by a separate agreement, initialled on 18
December 1995 and applied provisionally as from 1 January 1996.
Article 18
1. Trade in products covered by the Treaty establishing the European
Coal and Steel Community shall be governed by the provisions of this
Title, with the exception of Article 12.
2. A contact group on coal and steel matters shall be set up,
comprising representatives of the Community on the one hand, and
representatives of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the other.
The contact group shall exchange, on a regular basis, information on
all coal and steel matters of interest to the Parties.
Article 19
Trade in nuclear materials will be conducted in accordance with the
provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy
Community. If necessary, trade in nuclear materials shall be subject
to the provisions of a specific Agreement to be concluded between
the European Atomic Energy Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
TITLE IV
PROVISIONS AFFECTING BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT
CHAPTER I
LABOUR CONDITIONS
Article 20
1. Subject to the laws, conditions and procedures applicable in each
Member State, the Community and the Member States shall endeavour to
ensure that the treatment accorded to Azerbaijani nationals legally
employed in the territory of a Member State shall be free from any
discrimination based on nationality, as regards working conditions,
remuneration or dismissal, as compared to its own nationals.
2. Subject to the laws, conditions and procedures applicable in the
Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Azerbaijan shall ensure that
the treatment accorded to nationals of a Member State, legally
employed in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, shall be
free from any discrimination based on nationality, as regards
working conditions, remuneration or dismissal, as compared to its
own nationals.
Article 21
The Cooperation Council shall examine which improvements can be made
in working conditions for business people consistent with the
international commitments of the Parties, including those set out in
the document of the CSCE Bonn Conference.
Article 22
The Cooperation Council shall make recommendations for the
implementation of Articles 20 and 21.
CHAPTER II
CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF COMPANIES
Article 23
1. The Community and its Member States shall grant treatment no less
favourable than that accorded to any third country for the
establishment of Azerbaijani companies as defined in Article 25(d).
2. Without prejudice to the reservations listed in Annex IV, the
Community and its Member States shall grant to subsidiaries of
Azerbaijani companies established in their territories a treatment
no less favourable than that granted to any Community companies, in
respect of their operation.
3. The Community and its Member States shall grant to branches of
Azerbaijani companies established in their territories treatment no
less favourable than that accorded to branches of companies of any
third country, in respect of their operation.
4. Without prejudice to the reservations listed in Annex V, the
Republic of Azerbaijan shall grant for the establishment of
Community companies as defined in Article 25(d) treatment no less
favourable than that accorded to Azerbaijani companies or to any
third-country companies, whichever is the better, and shall grant to
subsidiaries and branches of Community companies established in its
territory treatment no less favourable than that accorded to its own
companies or branches or to any third-country company or branch,
whichever is the better, in respect of their operations.
Article 24
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 100, the
provisions of Article 23 shall not apply to air transport, inland
waterways transport and maritime transport.
2. However, in respect of activities, as indicated below, undertaken
by shipping agencies for the provision of services to international
maritime transport, including intermodal transport operations
involving a sea-leg, each Party shall permit the companies of the
other Party to have a commercial presence in its territory in the
form of subsidiaries or branches, under conditions of establishment
and operation no less favourable than those accorded to its own
companies or to subsidiaries or branches of companies of any third
country, whichever are the better, and this in conformity with the
legislation and regulations applicable in each Party.
3. Such activities include but are not limited to:
(a) marketing and sales of maritime transport and related services
through direct contact with customers, from quotation to invoicing,
whether these services are operated or offered by the service
supplier itself or by service suppliers with which the service
seller has established standing business arrangements;
(b) purchase and use, on their own account or on behalf of their
customers (and the resale to their customers) of any transport and
related services, including inward transport services by any mode,
particularly inland waterways, road and rail, necessary for the
supply of an integrated service;
(c) preparation of documentation concerning transport documents,
customs documents, or other documents related to the origin and
character of the goods transported;
(d) provision of business information by any means, including
computerised information systems and electronic data interchange
(subject to any non-discriminatory restrictions concerning
telecommunications);
(e) setting up of any business arrangement, including participation
in the company's stock and the appointment of personnel recruited
locally (or, in the case of foreign personnel, subject to the
relevant provisions of this Agreement), with any locally established
shipping agency;
(f) acting on behalf of the companies, inter alia in organising the
call of the vessel or taking over cargoes when required.
Article 25
For the purpose of this Agreement:
(a) a "Community Company" or an "Azerbaijani company" respectively
shall mean a company set up in accordance with the laws of a Member
State or of the Republic of Azerbaijan respectively and having its
registered office or central administration, or principal place of
business in the territory of the Community or the Republic of
Azerbaijan respectively. However, should the company, set up in
accordance with the laws of a Member State or the Republic of
Azerbaijan respectively, have only its registered office in the
territory of the Community or the Republic of Azerbaijan
respectively, the company shall be considered a Community or
Azerbaijani company respectively if its operations possess a real
and continuous link with the economy of one of the Member States or
the Republic of Azerbaijan respectively;
(b) "subsidiary" of a company shall mean a company which is
effectively controlled by the first company;
(c) "branch" of a company shall mean a place of business not having
legal personality which has the appearance of permanency, such as
the extension of a parent body, has a management and is materially
equipped to negotiate business with third parties so that the
latter, although knowing that there will if necessary be a legal
link with the parent body, the head office of which is abroad, do
not have to deal directly with such parent body but may transact
business at the place of business constituting the extension;
(d) "establishment" shall mean the right of Community or Azerbaijani
companies, as referred to in point (a), to take up economic
activities by means of the setting up of subsidiaries and branches
in the Republic of Azerbaijan or in the Community respectively;
(e) "operation" shall mean the pursuit of economic activities;
(f) "economic activities" shall mean activities of an industrial,
commercial and professional character.
With regard to international maritime transport, including
intermodal operations involving a sea-leg, nationals of the Member
States or of the Republic of Azerbaijan established outside the
Community or the Republic of Azerbaijan respectively, and shipping
companies established outside the Community or the Republic of
Azerbaijan and controlled by nationals of a Member State or
Azerbaijani nationals respectively, shall also be beneficiaries of
the provisions of this chapter and Chapter III if their vessels are
registered in that Member State or in the Republic of Azerbaijan
respectively in accordance with their respective legislation.
Article 26
1. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement, a Party
shall not be prevented from taking measures for prudential reasons,
including for the protection of investors, depositors, policy
holders or persons to whom a fiduciary duty is owed by a financial
service supplier, or to ensure the integrity and stability of the
financial system. Where such measures do not conform with the
provisions of this Agreement, they shall not be used as a means of
avoiding the obligations of a Party under this Agreement.
2. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as requiring a Party
to disclose information relating to the affairs and accounts of
individual customers or any confidential or proprietary information
in the possession of public entities.
3. For the purpose of this Agreement, "financial services" shall
mean those activities described in Annex III.
Article 27
The provisions of this Agreement shall not prejudice the application
by each Party of any measure necessary to prevent the circumvention
of its measures concerning third-country access to its market,
through the provisions of this Agreement.
Article 28
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Chapter I of this Title, a
Community company or an Azerbaijani company established in the
territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan or the Community
respectively shall be entitled to employ, or have employed by one of
its subsidiaries or branches, in accordance with the legislation in
force in the host country of establishment, in the territory of the
Republic of Azerbaijan and the Community respectively, employees who
are nationals of Community Member States and the Republic of
Azerbaijan respectively, provided that such employees are key
personnel as defined in paragraph 2, and that they are employed
exclusively by companies, or branches. The residence and work
permits of such employees shall only cover the period of such
employment.
2. Key personnel of the abovementioned companies, herein referred to
as "organisations" are "intra-corporate transferees" as defined in
(c) in the following categories, provided that the organisation is a
legal person and that the persons concerned have been employed by it
or have been partners in it (other than majority shareholders), for
at least the year immediately preceding such movement:
(a) persons working in a senior position with an organisation, who
primarily direct the management of the establishment, receiving
general supervision or direction principally from the board of
directors or stockholders of the business or their equivalent,
including:
- directing the establishment or a department or subdivision of the
establishment,
- supervising and controlling the work of other supervisory,
professional or managerial employees,
- having the authority personally to hire and fire or recommend
hiring, firing or other personnel actions;
(b) persons working within an organisation who possess uncommon
knowledge essential to the establishment's service, research
equipment, techniques or management. The assessment of such
knowledge may reflect, apart from knowledge specific to the
establishment, a high level of qualification referring to a type of
work or trade requiring specific technical knowledge, including
membership of an accredited profession;
(c) an "intra-corporate transferee" is defined as a natural person
working within an organisation in the territory of a Party, and
being temporarily transferred in the context of pursuit of economic
activities in the territory of the other Party; the organisation
concerned must have its principal place of business in the territory
of a Party and the transfer be to an establishment (branch,
subsidiary) of that organisation, effectively pursuing like economic
activities in the territory of the other Party.
Article 29
1. The Parties shall use their best endeavours to avoid taking any
measures or actions which render the conditions for the
establishment and operation of each other's companies more
restrictive than the situation existing on the day preceding the
date of signature of this Agreement.
2. The provisions of this Article are without prejudice to those of
Article 37: the situations covered by such Article 37 shall be
solely governed by its provisions to the exclusion of any other.
3. Acting in the spirit of partnership and cooperation and in the
light of the provisions of Article 43 the Government of the Republic
of Azerbaijan shall inform the Community of its intentions to submit
new legislation or adopt new regulations which may render the
conditions for the establishment or operation in the Republic of
Azerbaijan of subsidiaries and branches of Community companies more
restrictive than the situation existing on the day preceding the
date of signature of this Agreement. The Community may request the
Republic of Azerbaijan to communicate the drafts of such legislation
or regulations and to enter into consultations about those drafts.
4. Where new legislation or regulations introduced in the Republic
of Azerbaijan would result in rendering the conditions for operation
of subsidiaries and branches of Community companies established in
the Republic of Azerbaijan more restrictive than the situation
existing on the day of signature of this Agreement, such respective
legislation or regulations shall not apply during three years
following the entry into force of the relevant act to those
subsidiaries and branches already established in the Republic of
Azerbaijan at the time of entry into force of the relevant act.
CHAPTER III
CROSS-BORDER SUPPLY OF SERVICES BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND THE
REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN
Article 30
1. The Parties undertake in accordance with the provisions of this
chapter to take the necessary steps to allow progressively the
supply of services by Community or Azerbaijani companies which are
established in a Party other than that of the person for whom the
services are intended taking into account the development of the
service sectors in the Parties.
2. The Cooperation Council shall make recommendations for the
implementation of paragraph 1.
Article 31
The Parties shall cooperate with the aim of developing a
market-oriented service sector in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Article 32
1. The Parties undertake to apply effectively the principle of
unrestricted access to the international maritime market and traffic
on a commercial basis:
(a) the above provision does not prejudice the rights and
obligations arising from the United Nations Convention on a Code of
Conduct for Liner Conferences, as applicable to one or other
Contracting Party to this Agreement. Non-conference lines will be
free to operate in competition with a conference as long as they
adhere to the principle of fair competition on a commercial basis;
(b) the Parties affirm their commitment to a freely competitive
environment as being an essential feature of the dry and liquid bulk
trade.
2. In applying the principles of paragraph 1, the Parties shall:
(a) not apply, as from the entry into force of this Agreement, any
cargo sharing provisions of bilateral agreements between any Member
States of the Community and the former Soviet Union;
(b) not introduce cargo-sharing clauses into future bilateral
agreements with third countries, other than in those exceptional
circumstances where liner shipping companies from one or other Party
to this Agreement would not otherwise have an effective opportunity
to ply for trade to and from the third country concerned;
(c) prohibit cargo sharing arrangements in future bilateral
agreements concerning dry and liquid bulk trade;
(d) abolish upon entry into force of this Agreement, all unilateral
measures, administrative, technical and other obstacles which could
have restrictive or discriminatory effects on the free supply of
services in international maritime transport.
3. Each party shall grant, inter alia, no less favourable treatment,
for the ships operated by nationals or companies of the other Party,
than that accorded to a Party's own ships, with regard to access to
ports open to international trade, the use of infrastructure and
auxiliary maritime services of the ports, as well as related fees
and charges, customs facilities and the assignment of berths and
facilities for loading and unloading.
4. Nationals and companies of the Community providing international
maritime transport services shall be free to provide international
sea-river services in the inland waterways of the Republic of
Azerbaijan and vice versa.
Article 33
With a view to assuring a coordinated development of transport
between the Parties, adapted to their commercial needs, the
conditions of mutual market access and provision of services in
transport by road, rail and inland waterways and, if applicable, in
air transport may be dealt with by specific agreements where
appropriate negotiated between the Parties after entry into force of
this Agreement.
CHAPTER IV
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 34
1. The provisions of this Title shall be applied subject to
limitations justified on grounds of public policy, public security
or public health.
2. They shall not apply to activities which in the territory of
either Party are connected, even occasionally, with the exercise of
official authority.
Article 35
For the purpose of this Title, nothing in this Agreement shall
prevent the Parties from applying their laws and regulations
regarding entry and stay, work, labour conditions and establishment
of natural persons and supply of services, provided that, in so
doing, they do not apply them in a manner as to nullify or impair
the benefits accruing to any Party under the terms of a specific
provision of this Agreement. The above provision does not prejudice
the application of Article 34.
Article 36
Companies which are controlled and exclusively owned by Azerbaijani
companies and Community companies jointly shall also be
beneficiaries of the provisions of Chapters II, III and IV.
Article 37
Treatment granted by either Party to the other thereunder shall, as
from the day one month prior to the date of entry into force of the
relevant obligations of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS), in respect of sectors or measures covered by the GATS, in no
case be more favourable than that accorded by such first Party under
the provisions of GATS and this in respect of each service sector,
subsector and mode of supply.
Article 38
For the purposes of Chapters II, III and IV, no account shall be
taken of treatment accorded by the Community, its Member States or
the Republic of Azerbaijan pursuant to commitments entered into in
economic integration agreements in accordance with the principles of
Article V of the GATS.
Article 39
1. The most-favoured-nation treatment granted in accordance with the
provisions of this Title shall not apply to the tax advantages which
the Parties are providing or will provide in the future on the basis
of agreements to avoid double taxation, or other tax arrangements.
2. Nothing in this Title shall be construed to prevent the adoption
or enforcement by the Parties of any measures aimed at preventing
the avoidance or evasion of taxes pursuant to the tax provisions of
agreements to avoid double taxation and other tax arrangements, or
domestic fiscal legislation.
3. Nothing in this Title shall be construed to prevent Member States
or the Republic of Azerbaijan from distinguishing, in the
application of the relevant provisions of their fiscal legislation,
between tax payers who are not in identical situations, in
particular as regards their place of residence.
Article 40
Without prejudice to Article 28, no provision of Chapters II, III
and IV shall be interpreted as giving the right to:
- nationals of the Member States or of the Republic of Azerbaijan
respectively to enter, or stay in, the territory of the Republic of
Azerbaijan or the Community respectively in any capacity whatsoever,
and in particular as a shareholder or partner in a company or
manager or employee thereof or supplier or recipient of services,
- Community subsidiaries or branches of Azerbaijani companies to
employ or have employed in the territory of the Community nationals
of the Republic of Azerbaijan,
- Azerbaijani subsidiaries or branches of Community companies to
employ or have employed in the territory of the Republic of
Azerbaijan nationals of the Member States,
- Azerbaijani companies or Community subsidiaries or branches of
Azerbaijani companies to supply Azerbaijani persons to act for and
under the control of other persons by temporary employment
contracts,
- Community companies or Azerbaijani subsidiaries or branches of
Community companies to supply workers who are nationals of the
Member States by temporary employment contracts.
CHAPTER V
CURRENT PAYMENTS AND CAPITAL
Article 41
1. The Parties undertake to authorise in freely convertible
currency, any current payments between residents of the Community
and of the Republic of Azerbaijan connected with the movement of
goods, services or persons made in accordance with the provisions of
this Agreement.
2. With regard to transactions on the capital account of balance of
payments, from entry into force of this Agreement, the free movement
of capital relating to direct investments made in companies formed
in accordance with the laws of the host country and investments made
in accordance with the provisions of Chapter II, and the liquidation
or repatriation of these investments and of any profit stemming
therefrom shall be ensured.
3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not prevent the Republic of
Azerbaijan from applying restrictions on outward direct investment
by Azerbaijani residents. Such restrictions shall not apply to
subsidiaries and branches of Community companies. Five years after
the entry into force of this Agreement, the Parties agree to consult
over the maintenance of these restrictions, taking into account all
the relevant monetary, fiscal and financial considerations.
4. Without prejudice to paragraph 2 or to paragraph 6, as from the
entry into force of this Agreement, no new foreign exchange
restrictions on the movement of capital and current payments
connected therewith between residents of the Community and the
Republic of Azerbaijan shall be introduced and the existing
arrangements shall not become more restrictive.
5. The Parties shall consult each other with a view to facilitating
the movement of forms of capital other than those referred to in
paragraph 2 above between the Community and the Republic of
Azerbaijan in order to promote the objectives of this Agreement.
6. With reference to the provisions of this Article, until a full
convertibility of the Azerbaijani currency within the meaning of
Article VIII of the Articles of Agreement of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) is introduced, the Republic of Azerbaijan may in
exceptional circumstances apply exchange restrictions connected with
the granting or taking up of short and medium-term financial credits
to the extent that such restrictions are imposed on the Republic of
Azerbaijan for the granting of such credits and are permitted
according to the Republic of Azerbaijan's status under the IMF. The
Republic of Azerbaijan shall apply these restrictions in a
non-discriminatory manner. They shall be applied in such a manner as
to cause the least possible disruption to this Agreement. The
Republic of Azerbaijan shall inform the Cooperation Council promptly
of the introduction of such measures and of any changes therein.
7. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2, where, in exceptional
circumstances, movement of capital between the Community and the
Republic of Azerbaijan cause, or threaten to cause, serious
difficulties for the operation of exchange rate policy or monetary
policy in the Community or the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Community
and the Republic of Azerbaijan, respectively, may take safeguard
measures with regard to movements of capital between the Community
and the Republic of Azerbaijan for a period not exceeding six months
if such measures are strictly necessary.
CHAPTER VI
INTELLECTUAL, INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY PROTECTION
Article 42
1. Pursuant to the provisions of this Article and of Annex II, the
Republic of Azerbaijan shall continue to improve the protection of
intellectual, industrial and commercial property rights in order to
provide, by the end of the fifth year after the entry into force of
this Agreement, for a level of protection similar to that existing
in the Community, including effective means of enforcing such
rights.
2. By the end of the fifth year after entry into force of this
Agreement, the Republic of Azerbaijan shall accede to the
multilateral conventions on intellectual, industrial and commercial
property rights referred to in paragraph 1 of Annex II to which
Member States are parties or which are de facto applied by Member
States, according to the relevant provisions contained in these
conventions.
TITLE V
LEGISLATIVE COOPERATION
Article 43
1. The Parties recognise that an important condition for
strengthening the economic links between the Republic of Azerbaijan
and the Community is the approximation of the Republic of
Azerbaijan's existing and future legislation to that of the
Community. The Republic of Azerbaijan shall endeavour to ensure that
its legislation will be gradually made compatible with that of the
Community.
2. The approximation of laws shall extend to the following areas in
particular: customs law, company law, banking law, company accounts
and taxes, intellectual property, protection of workers at the
workplace, financial services, rules on competition, public
procurement, protection of health and life of humans, animals and
plants, the environment and legislation regarding the exploitation
and utilisation of natural resources, consumer protection, indirect
taxation, technical rules and standards, nuclear laws and
regulations and transport.
3. The Community shall provide the Republic of Azerbaijan with
technical assistance for the implementation of these measures, which
may include inter alia:
- the exchange of experts,
- the provision of early information especially on relevant
legislation,
- organisation of seminars,
- training activities,
- aid for translation of Community legislation in the relevant
sectors.
4. The Parties agree to examine ways to apply their respective
competition laws on a concerted basis in such cases where trade
between them is affected.
TITLE VI
ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Article 44
1. The Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan shall establish
economic cooperation aimed at contributing to the process of
economic reform and recovery and sustainable development of the
Republic of Azerbaijan. Such cooperation shall strengthen existing
economic links, to the benefit of both parties.
2. Policies and other measures will be designed to bring about
economic and social reforms and restructuring of the economic and
trading systems in the Republic of Azerbaijan and will be guided by
the requirements of sustainability and harmonious social
development; they will also fully incorporate environmental
considerations.
3. To this end, cooperation will concentrate, in particular, on
economic and social development, human resources development,
support for enterprises (including privatisation, investment and
development of financial services), agriculture and food, energy,
transport, tourism, environmental protection, regional cooperation
and monetary policy.
4. Special attention shall be devoted to measures, as in conformity
with the legislation in force in the Republic of Azerbaijan capable
of fostering cooperation among the Independent States of the
Transcaucasus region, and with other neighbouring states, with a
view to stimulating a harmonious development of the region.
5. Where appropriate, economic cooperation and other forms of
cooperation provided for in this Agreement may be supported by
technical assistance from the Community, taking into account the
Community's relevant Council regulation applicable to technical
assistance in the Independent States, the priorities agreed upon in
the indicative programme related to Community technical assistance
to the Republic of Azerbaijan and its established coordination and
implementation procedures.
Article 45
Cooperation in the field of trade in goods and services
The Parties will cooperate with a view to ensuring that the Republic
of Azerbaijan's international trade is conducted in conformity with
the rules of the WTO.
Such cooperation shall include specific issues directly relevant to
trade facilitation, including:
- formulation of policy on trade and trade-related questions,
including payments, and clearing mechanisms,
- drafting of relevant legislation,
- assistance to prepare for the Republic of Azerbaijan's eventual
accession to the WTO.
Article 46
Industrial Cooperation
1. Cooperation shall aim at promoting the following in particular:
- the development of business links between economic operators of
both sides,
- Community participation in the Republic of Azerbaijan's efforts to
restructure its industry,
- the improvement of management,
- the development of appropriate market-based commercial rules and
practices, as well as the transfer of know-how,
- environmental protection.
2. The provisions of this Article shall not affect the enforcement
of Community competition rules applicable to undertakings.
Article 47
Construction
The Parties shall cooperate in the field of construction industry.
This cooperation shall, inter alia, aim at modernising and
restructuring the construction sector in the Republic of Azerbaijan
in line with the principles of a market economy and duly taking into
account related health, safety and environmental aspects.
Article 48
Investment promotion and protection
1. Bearing in mind the respective powers and competences of the
Community and the Member States, cooperation shall aim to establish
a favourable climate for private investment, both domestic and
foreign, especially through better conditions for investment
protection, the transfer of capital and the exchange of information
on investment opportunities.
2. The aims of cooperation shall be in particular:
- the conclusion, where appropriate, between the Member States and
the Republic of Azerbaijan of agreements for the promotion and
protection of investment,
- the conclusion, where appropriate, between the Member States and
the Republic of Azerbaijan of agreements to avoid double taxation,
- the creation of favourable conditions for attracting foreign
investments into the Azerbaijani economy,
- to establish stable and adequate business law and conditions, and
to exchange information on laws, regulations and administrative
practices in the field of investment,
- to exchange information on investment opportunities in the form
of, inter alia, trade fairs, exhibitions, trade weeks and other
events.
Article 49
Public procurement
The Parties shall cooperate to develop conditions for open and
competitive award of contracts for goods and services in particular
through calls for tenders.
Article 50
Cooperation in the field of standards and conformity assessment
1. Cooperation between the Parties shall promote alignment with
internationally agreed criteria, principles and guidelines followed
in the field of quality. The required actions will facilitate
progress towards mutual recognition in the field of conformity
assessment, as well as the improvement of the quality of Azerbaijani
products.
2. To this end the Parties shall seek to cooperate in technical
assistance projects which will:
- promote appropriate cooperation with organisations and
institutions specialised in these fields,
- promote the use of Community technical regulations and the
application of European standards and conformity assessment
procedures,
- permit the sharing of experience and technical information in the
field of quality management.
Article 51
Mining and raw materials
2. The cooperation shall focus in particular on the following areas:
- exchange of information on the prospects of the mining and
non-ferrous metals sectors,
- the establishment of a legal framework for cooperation,
- trade matters,
- the adoption and implementation of environmental legislation,
- training,
- safety in the mining industry.
Article 52
Cooperation in science and technology
1. The Parties shall promote cooperation in civil scientific
research and technological development (RTD) on the basis of mutual
benefit and, taking into account the availability of resources,
adequate access to their respective programmes and subject to
appropriate levels of effective protection of intellectual,
industrial and commercial property rights (IPR).
2. Science and technology cooperation shall cover:
- the exchange of scientific and technical information,
- joint RTD activities,
- training activities and mobility programmes for scientists,
researchers and technicians engaged in RTD on both sides.
Where such cooperation takes the form of activities involving
education and/or training, it should be carried out in accordance
with the provisions of Article 53.
The Parties, on the basis of mutual agreement, can engage in other
forms of cooperation in science and technology.
3. The cooperation covered by this Article shall implemented
according to specific arrangements to be negotiated and concluded in
accordance with the procedures adopted by each Party, and which
shall set out, inter alia, appropriate IPR provisions.
Article 53
Education and training
1. The Parties shall cooperate with the aim of raising the level of
general education and professional qualifications in the Republic of
Azerbaijan, both in the public and private sectors.
2. The cooperation shall focus in particular on the following areas:
- updating higher education and training systems in the Republic of
Azerbaijan including the system of certification of higher
educational establishments and diplomas of higher education,
- the training of public and private sector executives and civil
servants in priority areas to be determined,
- cooperation between educational establishments and between
educational establishments and firms,
- mobility for teachers, graduates, administrators, young scientists
and researchers, and young people,
- promoting teaching in the field of European studies within the
appropriate institutions,
- teaching Community languages,
- post-graduate training of conference interpreters,
- training of journalists,
- training of trainers,
- exchange of teaching methods, encouraging the utilisation of
modern educational programmes and technical means of education.
3. The possible participation of one Party in the respective
programmes in the field of education and training of the other Party
could be considered in accordance with their respective procedures
and, where appropriate, institutional frameworks and plans of
cooperation will then be established building on participation of
the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Community's Tempus programme.
Article 54
Agriculture and the agro-industrial sector
The purpose of cooperation in this area shall be the pursuance of
agrarian reform, the modernisation, privatisation and restructuring
of agriculture, the agro-industrial and service sectors in the
Republic of Azerbaijan, development of domestic and foreign markets
for Azerbaijani products, in conditions that ensure the protection
of the environment, taking into account the necessity to improve
security of food supply as well as the development of agribusiness,
the processing and distribution of agricultural products. The
Parties shall also aim at the gradual approximation of Azerbaijani
standards to Community technical regulations concerning industrial
and agricultural food products including sanitary and phytosanitary
standards.
Article 55
Energy
1. Cooperation shall take place within the principles of the market
economy and the European Energy Charter and bearing in mind the
Energy Charter Treaty and the Protocol on energy efficiency and
related environmental aspects, against a background of progressive
integration of the energy markets in Europe.
2. The cooperation shall include among others the following areas:
- formulation and development of energy policy,
- improvement in management and regulation of the energy sector in
line with a market economy,
- improvement of energy supply, including security of supply, in an
economic and environmentally sound manner,
- promotion of energy saving and energy efficiency and
implementation of the Energy Charter Protocol on energy efficiency
and related environmental aspects,
- modernisation of energy infrastructures,
- improvement of energy technologies in supply and end-use across
the range of energy types,
- management and technical training in the energy sector,
- transportation and transit of energy materials and products,
- the introduction of the range of institutional, legal, fiscal and
other conditions necessary to encourage increased energy trade and
investment,
- development of hydroelectric and other renewable energy resources.
3. The Parties shall exchange relevant information relating to
investment projects in the energy sector, in particular concerning
the construction and refurbishing of oil and gas pipelines or other
means of transporting energy products. They shall cooperate with a
view to implementing as efficaciously as possible the provisions of
Title IV and of Article 48, in respect of investments in the energy
sector.
Article 56
Environment
1. Bearing in mind the European Energy Charter and the Declaration
of the Lucerne Conference of 1993, and taking into account the
Energy Charter Treaty, and especially its Article 19, and the Energy
Charter Protocol on energy efficiency and related environmental
aspects, the Parties shall develop and strengthen their cooperation
on environment and human health.
2. Cooperation shall aim at combating the deterioration of the
environment and in particular:
- effective monitoring of pollution levels and assessment of
environment; system of information on the state of the environment,
- combating local, regional and transboundary air and water
pollution,
- ecological restoration,
- sustainable, efficient and environmentally effective production
and use of energy,
- ecological safety of industrial plants,
- classification and safe handling of chemicals,
- water quality,
- waste reduction, recycling and safe disposal, implementation of
the Basle Convention,
- the environmental impact of agriculture, soil erosion, and
chemical pollution,
- the protection and renewal of forests,
- the conservation of biodiversity, protected areas and sustainable
use and management of biological resources,
- land-use planning, including construction and urban planning,
- use of economic and fiscal instruments,
- global climate change,
- environmental education and awareness,
- technical assistance concerning rehabilitation of zones affected
by radioactivity and addressing related health and social problems,
- implementation of the Espoo Convention on environmental impact
assessment in a transboundary context.
3. Cooperation shall take place particularly through:
- disaster planning and other emergency situations,
- exchange of information and experts, including information and
experts dealing with the transfer of clean technologies and the safe
and environmentally sound use of biotechnologies,
- joint research activities,
- improvement of laws towards Community standards,
- environmental training and institutional strengthening,
- cooperation at regional level, including cooperation within the
framework of the European Environment Agency, and at international
level,
- development of strategies, particularly with regard to global and
climatic issues and also in view of achieving sustainable
development,
- environmental impact studies,
- ecological monitoring.
Article 57
Transport
The Parties shall develop and strengthen their cooperation in the
field of transport.
This cooperation shall, inter alia, aim at restructuring and
modernising transport systems and networks in the Republic of
Azerbaijan, and developing and ensuring, where appropriate,
compatibility of transportation systems in the context of achieving
a more global transport system. In particular, consideration shall
be given to traditional communications links among Independent
States in the Transcaucasus region and with other neighbouring
states.
The cooperation shall include, inter alia:
- the modernising of management and operations of road transport,
railways, ports and airports,
- modernisation and development of railways, waterways, roads,
ports, airports and air navigation infrastructure including the
modernisation of major routes of common interest and the
trans-European links for the above modes, particularly those related
to the TRACECA project; and training in the abovementioned areas,
- promotion and development of multimodal transport,
- the promotion of joint research and development programmes,
- preparation of the legislative and institutional framework for
policy development and implementation including privatisation of the
transport sector.
Article 58
Postal services and telecommunications
Within their respective powers and competences the Parties shall
expand and strengthen cooperation in the following areas:
- the establishment of policies and guidelines for the development
of the telecommunications sector and postal services,
- development of principles of a tariff policy and marketing in
telecommunications and postal services,
- carry out transfer of technology and know-how, including on
European technical standards and certification systems,
- encouraging the development of projects for telecommunications and
postal services and attracting investment,
- enhancing efficiency and quality of the provision of
telecommunications and postal services, amongst others through
liberalisation of activities of subsectors,
- advanced application of telecommunications, notably in the area of
electronic funds transfer,
- management of telecommunications networks and their
"optimisation",
- an appropriate regulatory basis for the provision of
telecommunications and postal services and for the use of the radio
frequency spectrum,
- training in the field of telecommunications and postal services
for operations in market conditions.
Article 59
Financial services
Cooperation shall in particular aim at facilitating the involvement
of the Republic of Azerbaijan in universally accepted systems of
mutual settlements. Technical assistance shall focus on:
- the development of a modern system of private and, in particular,
commercial banking and financial services, the development of a
common market of credit resources, the involvement of the Republic
of Azerbaijan in a universally accepted system of mutual
settlements,
- the development of a fiscal system and its institutions in the
Republic of Azerbaijan, exchange of experience and personnel
training,
- the development of insurance services, which would, inter alia,
create a favourable framework for Community companies participation
in the establishment of joint ventures in the insurance sector in
the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the development of export
credit insurance.
This cooperation shall in particular contribute to foster the
development of relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the
Member States in the financial services sector.
Article 60
Enterprise restructuring and privatisation
Recognising that privatisation is of fundamental importance to a
sustainable economic recovery, the Parties agree to cooperate in the
development of the necessary institutional, legal and methodological
framework. To this end, technical assistance shall be given to
implement the privatisation programme adopted by the Parliament of
Azerbaijan. Particular Attention will be paid to the orderly and
transparent nature of the privatisation process.
Technical assistance shall focus on, inter alia:
- the development of an institutional base within the government of
Azerbaijan capable of defining and managing the privatisation
process,
- the establishment of a database of enterprises,
- the corporatisation of enterprises,
- the development of a system of mass privatisation, which will aim
to transfer property to the population, based on a system of
vouchers,
- the development of a system for the registration of share
holdings,
- the development of a system for the sale by tender of particular
enterprises deemed not suitable for participation in the mass
privatisation programme,
- the restructuring of those enterprises not yet ready for
privatisation,
- the development of private enterprise, particularly in the small
and medium-sized enterprise sector.
The objective of this cooperation is to contribute to the
revitalisation of the economy of Azerbaijan, the promotion of
foreign investment and the development of relations between
Azerbaijan and the Member States.
Article 61
Regional development
2. To this end, they shall encourage exchange of information by
national, regional and local authorities in the Community and its
Member States and in the Republic of Azerbaijan on regional and
land-use planning policy and on methods of formulation of regional
policies with special emphasis on the development of disadvantaged
areas.
They shall also encourage direct contacts between the abovementioned
authorities and between regional and public organisations
responsible for regional development planning with the aim, inter
alia, to exchange methods and ways of fostering regional
development.
Article 62
Social cooperation
1. With regard to health and safety, the Parties shall develop
cooperation between them with the aim of improving the level of
protection of the health and safety of workers.
The cooperation shall include notably:
- education and training on health and safety issues with specific
attention to high risk sectors of activity,
- development and promotion of preventive measures to combat
work-related diseases and other work-related ailments,
- prevention of major accident hazards and the management of toxic
chemicals,
- research to develop the knowledge base in relation to working
environment and the health and safety of workers.
2. With regard to employment, the cooperation shall include notably
technical assistance to:
- optimisation of the labour market,
- modernisation of the job-finding and consulting services,
- planning and management of the restructuring programmes,
- encouragement of local employment development,
- exchange of information on the programmes of flexible employment,
including those stimulating self-employment and promoting
entrepreneurship.
3. The Parties shall pay special attention to cooperation in the
sphere of social protection which, inter alia, shall include
cooperation in planning and implementing social protection reforms
in the Republic or Azerbaijan.
These reforms shall aim to develop in the Republic of Azerbaijan
methods of protection intrinsic to market economies and shall
comprise all forms of social protection.
Article 63
Tourism
The Parties shall increase and develop cooperation between them,
which shall include:
- facilitating the tourist trade,
- increasing the flow of information,
- transferring know-how,
- studying the opportunities for joint operations,
- cooperation between official tourism bodies,
- training for tourism development.
Article 64
Small and medium-sized enterprises
1. The Parties shall aim to develop and strengthen small and
medium-sized enterprises and their associations and cooperation
between SMEs in the Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
2. Cooperation shall include technical assistance, in particular in
the following areas:
- the development of a legislative framework for SMEs,
- the development of an appropriate infrastructure (an agency to
support SMEs, communications, assistance to the creation of a fund
for SMEs),
- the development of technology parks,
- training in the areas of marketing, accounting and control of the
quality of products.
Article 65
Information and communication
The Parties shall support the development of modern methods of
information handling, including the media, and stimulate the
effective mutual exchange of information. Priority shall be given to
programmes aimed at providing the general public with basic
information about the Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan,
including, where possible, access to databases, in full respect of
intellectual property rights.
Article 66
Consumer protection
The Parties will enter into close cooperation aimed at achieving
compatibility between their systems of consumer protection. This
cooperation may include the exchange of information on legislative
work and institutional reform, establishment of permanent systems of
mutual information on dangerous products, the improvement of
information provided to consumers especially on prices,
characteristics of products and services offered, the development of
exchanges between the consumer interest representatives, and
increasing the compatibility of consumer protection policies, and
the organisation of seminars and training periods.
Article 67
Customs
1. The aim of cooperation shall be to guarantee compliance with all
the provisions scheduled for adoption in connection with trade and
fair trade and to achieve the approximation of the Republic of
Azerbaijan's customs system to that of the Community.
2. Cooperation shall include the following in particular:
- the exchange of information,
- the improvement of working methods,
- the introduction of the Combined Nomenclature and the single
administrative document,
- the interconnection between the transit systems of the Community
and the Republic of Azerbaijan,
- simplification of inspections and formalities in respect of the
carriage of goods,
- support for the introduction of modern customs information
systems,
- the organisation of seminars and training periods.
Technical assistance shall be provided where necessary.
3. Without prejudice to further cooperation foreseen in this
Agreement and in particular Articles 72 and 74, mutual assistance in
customs matters between administrative authorities of the Parties
shall take place in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol
attached to this Agreement.
Article 68
Statistical cooperation
Cooperation in this area shall have as its aim the development of an
efficient statistical system to provide the reliable statistics
needed to support and monitor the process of economic reform and
contribute to the development of private enterprise in the Republic
of Azerbaijan. It shall also address the protection of
confidentiality.
The Parties, in particular, shall cooperate in the following fields:
- adaptation of the Azerbaijani statistical system to international
methods, standards and classification,
- exchange of statistical information,
- provision of necessary statistical macro- and microeconomic
information to implement and manage economic reforms.
The Community shall contribute to this end by rendering technical
assistance to the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Article 69
Economics
The Parties shall facilitate the process of economic reform and the
coordination of economic policies by cooperating to improve
understanding of the fundamentals of their respective economies and
the design and implementation of economic policy in market
economies. To this end, the Parties shall exchange information on
macroeconomic performance and prospects.
The Community shall provide technical assistance so as to:
- assist the Republic of Azerbaijan in the process of economic
reform by providing expert advisory and technical assistance,
- encourage cooperation among economists in order to expedite the
transfer of know-how for the drafting of economic policies, and
provide for wide dissemination of policy-relevant research.
Article 70
Monetary policy
At the request of the Azerbaijani authorities, the Community shall
provide technical assistance designed to support the efforts of the
Republic of Azerbaijan towards the strengthening of its monetary
system and the introduction of full convertibility of the currency.
This will include technical assistance for the design and
application of the Republic of Azerbaijan's monetary and credit
policy, in full coordination with the international financial
institutions, for the training of personnel, and for the development
of financial markets, including the stock exchange. It shall also
include informal exchanges of views concerning the principles and
the functioning of the European Monetary System and Community
regulations on financial markets and capital movements.
TITLE VII
COOPERATION ON MATTERS RELATING TO DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Article 71
The Parties shall cooperate on all questions relevant to the
establishment or reinforcement of democratic institutions, including
those required in order to strengthen the rule of law, and the
protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms according to
international law and OSCE principles.
This cooperation shall take the form of technical assistance
programmes intended to assist, inter alia, in the drafting of
relevant legislation and regulations; the implementation of such
legislation; the functioning of the judiciary; the role of the State
in questions of justice; and the operation of the electoral system.
They may include training where appropriate. The Parties shall
encourage contacts and exchanges between their national, regional
and judicial authorities, parliamentarians, and non-governmental
organisations.
TITLE VIII
COOPERATION ON PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES AND THE PREVENTION
AND CONTROL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Article 72
The Parties shall establish cooperation aimed at preventing illegal
activities such as:
- illegal activities in the sphere of economics, including
corruption,
- illegal transactions of various goods, including industrial waste,
- counterfeiting.
Cooperation in the abovementioned areas will be based on mutual
consultation and close interaction. Technical and administrative
assistance may be provided, including in the following areas:
- drafting of national legislation in the sphere of preventing
illegal activities,
- creation of information centres,
- increasing the efficiency of institutions engaged in preventing
illegal activities,
- training of personnel and development of research infrastructures,
- elaboration of mutually acceptable measures impeding illegal
activities.
Article 73
Money laundering
1. The Parties agree on the necessity of making efforts and
cooperating in order to prevent the use of their financial systems
for laundering of proceeds from criminal activities in general and
drug offences in particular.
2. Cooperation in this area shall include administrative and
technical assistance with the purpose of establishing suitable
standards against money laundering equivalent to those adopted by
the Community and international forums in this field, including the
Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Article 74
Drugs
Within the framework of their respective powers and competencies the
Parties shall cooperate in increasing the effectiveness and
efficiency of policies and measures to counter the illicit
production, supply and traffic of narcotic drugs and psychotropic
substances, including the prevention of diversion of precursor
chemicals, as well as in promoting drug demand prevention and
reduction. The cooperation in this area shall be based on mutual
consultation and close coordination between the Parties over the
objectives and measures on the various drug-related fields.
Article 75
Illegal immigration
1. The Member States and the Republic of Azerbaijan agree to
cooperate in order to prevent and control illegal immigration. To
this end:
- the Republic of Azerbaijan agrees to readmit any of its nationals
illegally present on the territory of a Member State, upon request
by the latter and without further formalities,
- and each Member State agrees to readmit any of its nationals, as
defined for community purposes, illegally present on the territory
of the Republic of Azerbaijan, upon request by the latter and
without further formalities.
The Member States and the Republic of Azerbaijan will also provide
their nationals with appropriate identity documents for such
purposes.
2. The Republic of Azerbaijan agrees to conclude bilateral
agreements with Member States which so request, regulating specific
obligations for readmission including an obligation for the
readmission of nationals of other countries and stateless persons
who have arrived on the territory of any such Member State from the
Republic of Azerbaijan or who have arrived on the territory of the
Republic of Azerbaijan from any such Member State.
3. The Cooperation Council shall examine what other joint efforts
can be made to prevent and control illegal immigration.
TITLE IX
CULTURAL COOPERATION
Article 73
The Parties undertake to promote, encourage and facilitate cultural
cooperation. Where appropriate, the Community's cultural cooperation
programmes or those of one or more Member States may be the subject
of cooperation and further activities of mutual interest may be
developed.
The cooperation may include:
- exchange of information and experience in the sphere of protection
and maintenance of monuments and historic places (architectural
legacy),
- cultural exchange between institutions, artists and other people
working in the area of art.
TITLE X
FINANCIAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Article 77
In order to achieve the objectives of this Agreement and in
accordance with Articles 78, 79 and 80, the Republic of Azerbaijan
shall benefit from temporary financial assistance from the Community
by way of technical assistance in the form of grants. The purpose of
this assistance shall be to accelerate the economic transformation
of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Article 78
This financial assistance shall be covered within the framework of
Tacis as foreseen in the Community's relevant Council regulation.
Article 79
The objectives and the areas of the Community's financial assistance
shall be laid down in an indicative programme reflecting established
priorities to be agreed between the two Parties taking into account
the Republic of Azerbaijan's needs, sectoral absorption capacities
and progress with reform. The Parties shall inform the Cooperation
Council thereof.
Article 80
In order to permit optimum use of the resources available, the
Parties shall ensure that Community technical assistance
contributions are made in close coordination with those from other
sources such as the Member States, other countries, and
international organisations such as the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development and the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development.
TITLE XI
INSTITUTIONAL, GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 81
A Cooperation Council is hereby established which shall supervise
the implementation of this Agreement. It shall meet at ministerial
level once a year. It shall examine any major issues arising within
the framework of this Agreement and any other bilateral or
international issues of mutual interest for the purpose of attaining
the objectives of this Agreement. The Cooperation Committee may also
make appropriate recommendations, by agreement between the two
Parties.
Article 82
1. The Cooperation Council shall consist of the members of the
Council of the European Union and members of the Commission of the
European Communities, on the one hand, and of members of the
Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the other.
3. The office of President of the Cooperation Council shall be held
alternately by a representative of the Community and by a member of
the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Article 83
1. The Cooperation Council shall be assisted in the performance of
its duties by a Cooperation Committee composed of representatives of
the members of the Council of the European Union and of members of
the Commission of the European Communities on the one hand and of
representatives of the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan on
the other, normally at senior civil servant level. The office of
President of the Cooperation Committee shall be held alternately by
the Community and by the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In its rules of procedure the Cooperation Council shall determine
the duties of the Cooperation Committee, which shall include the
preparation of meetings of the Cooperation Council, and how the
Committee shall function.
2. The Cooperation Council may delegate any of its powers to the
Cooperation Committee, which will ensure continuity between meetings
of the Cooperation Council.
Article 84
The Cooperation Council may decide to set up any other special
committee or body that can assist it in carrying out its duties and
shall determine the composition and duties of such committees or
bodies and how they shall function.
Article 85
When examining any issue arising within the framework of this
Agreement in relation to a provision referring to an article of the
GATT/WTO, the Cooperation Council shall take into account to the
greatest extent possible the interpretation that is generally given
to the article of the GATT/WTO in question by the Members of the
WTO.
Article 86
A Parliamentary Cooperation Committee is hereby established. It
shall be a forum for Members of the Azerbaijani Parliament and the
European Parliament to meet and exchange views. It shall meet at
intervals which it shall itself determine.
Article 87
1. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall consist of members
of the European Parliament, on the one hand, and of members of the
Azerbaijani Parliament, on the other.
3. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall be presided in turn
by the European Parliament and the Azerbaijani Parliament
respectively, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in
its rules of procedure.
Article 88
The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee may request relevant
information regarding the implementation of this Agreement from the
Cooperation Council, which shall then supply the Committee with the
requested information.
The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall be informed of the
recommendations of the Cooperation Council.
The Parliamentary Cooperation Council may make recommendations to
the Cooperation Council.
Article 89
1. Within the scope of this Agreement, each Party undertakes to
ensure that natural and legal persons of the other Party have access
free of discrimination in relation to its own nationals to the
competent courts and administrative organs of the Parties to defend
their individual rights and their property rights, including those
concerning intellectual, industrial and commercial property.
2. Within the limits of their respective powers and competences, the
Parties:
- shall encourage the adoption of arbitration for the settlement of
disputes arising out of commercial and cooperation transactions
concluded by economic operators of the Community and those of the
Republic of Azerbaijan,
- agree that where a dispute is submitted to arbitration, each party
to the dispute may, except where the rules of the arbitration centre
chosen by the parties provide otherwise, choose its own arbitrator,
irrespective of his nationality, and that the presiding third
arbitrator or the sole arbitrator may be a citizen of a third State,
- will recommend their economic operators to choose by mutual
consent the law applicable to their contracts,
- shall encourage recourse to the arbitration rules elaborated by
the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (Uncitral)
and to arbitration by any centre of a State signatory to the
Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards
done at New York on 10 June 1958.
Article 90
Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Party from taking any
measures:
(a) which it considers necessary to prevent the disclosure of
information contrary to its essential security interests;
(b) which relate to the production of, or trade in arms, munitions
or war materials or to research, development or production
indispensable for defence purposes, provided that such measures do
not impair the conditions of competition in respect of products not
intended for specifically military purposes;
(c) which it considers essential to its own security in the event of
serious internal disturbances affecting the maintenance of law and
order, in time of war or serious international tension constituting
threat of war or in order to carry out obligations it has accepted
for the purpose of maintaining peace and international security;
(d) which it considers necessary to respect its international
obligations and commitments in the control of dual use industrial
goods and technology.
Article 91
1. In the fields covered by this Agreement and without prejudice to
any special provisions contained therein:
- the arrangements applied by the Republic of Azerbaijan in respect
of the Community shall not give rise to any discrimination between
the Member States, their nationals or their companies or firms,
- the arrangements applied by the Community in respect of the
Republic of Azerbaijan shall not give rise to any discrimination
between Azerbaijani nationals, or its companies or firms.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 are without prejudice to the right
of the Parties to apply the relevant provisions of their fiscal
legislation to tax payers who are not in identical situations as
regards their place of residence.
Article 92
1. Each of the two Parties may refer to the Cooperation Council any
dispute relating to the application or interpretation of this
Agreement.
3. In the event of it not being possible to settle the dispute in
accordance with paragraph 2, either Party may notify the other of
the appointment of a conciliator; the other Party must then appoint
a second arbitrator within two months. For the application of this
procedure, the Community and the Member States shall be deemed to be
one Party to the dispute.
The Cooperation Council shall appoint a third conciliator.
The conciliators' recommendations shall be taken by majority vote.
Such recommendations shall not be binding upon the Parties.
4. The Cooperation Council may establish rules of procedure for
dispute settlement.
Article 93
The Parties agree to consult promptly through appropriate channels
at the request of either Party to discuss any matter concerning the
interpretation or implementation of this Agreement and other
relevant aspects of the relations between the Parties.
The provisions of this Article shall in no way affect and are
without prejudice to Articles 14, 92 and 98.
Article 94
Treatment granted to the Republic of Azerbaijan thereunder shall in
no case be more favourable than that granted by the Member States to
each other.
Article 95
For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "Parties" shall mean
the Republic of Azerbaijan on the one part, and the Community, or
the Member States, or the Community and the Member States, in
accordance with their respective powers, on the other part.
Article 96
In so far as matters covered by this Agreement are covered by the
Energy Charter Treaty and Protocols thereto, such Treaty and
Protocols shall upon entry into force apply to such matters but only
to the extent that such application is provided for therein.
Article 97
This Agreement is concluded for an initial period of 10 years. This
Agreement shall be automatically renewed year by year provided that
neither Party gives the other Party written notice of denunciation
of this Agreement six months before it expires.
Article 98
1. The Parties shall take any general or specific measures required
to fulfil their obligations under this Agreement. They shall see to
it that the objectives set out in this Agreement are attained.
2. If either Party considers that the other Party has failed to
fulfil an obligation under this Agreement, it may take appropriate
measures. Before so doing, except in cases of special urgency, it
shall supply the Cooperation Council with all relevant information
required for a thorough examination of the situation with a view to
seeking a solution acceptable to the Parties.
In the selection of these measures, priority must be given to those
which least disturb the functioning of this Agreement. These
measures shall be notified immediately to the Cooperation Council if
the other Party so requests.
Article 99
Annexes I, II, III, IV and V together with the Protocol shall form
an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 100
This Agreement shall not, until equivalent rights for individuals
and economic operators have been achieved thereunder, affect rights
assured to them through existing Agreements binding one or more
Member States, on the one hand, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, on
the other, except in areas falling within Community competence and
without prejudice to the obligations of Member States resulting from
this Agreement in areas falling within their competence.
Article 101
This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in
which the Treaties establishing the European Community, the European
Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community
are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties
and, on the other hand, to the territory of the Republic of
Azerbaijan.
Article 102
The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union shall be
the depository of this Agreement.
Article 103
The original of this Agreement of which the Danish, Dutch, English,
Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish,
Swedish and Azerbaijani languages, are equally authentic, shall be
deposited with the Secretary-General of the Council of the European
Union.
Article 104
This Agreement will be approved by the Parties in accordance with
their own procedures.
This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second
month following the date on which the Parties notify the
Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union that the
procedures referred to in the first paragraph have been completed.
Upon its entry into force, and as far as relations between the
Republic of Azerbaijan and the Community are concerned, this
Agreement shall replace the Agreement between the European Economic
Community, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics on trade and economic and commercial
cooperation signed in Brussels on 18 December 1989.
Article 105
In the event that, pending the completion of the procedures
necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement, the provisions
of certain parts of this Agreement are put into effect by means of
an Interim Agreement between the Community and the Republic of
Azerbaijan, the Parties agree that, in such circumstances, the term
"date of entry into force of this Agreement"shall mean the date of
entry into force of the Interim Agreement.
Hecho en Luxemburgo, el veintidės de abril de mil novecientos
noventa y seis.
Udfördiget i Luxembourg, den toogtyvende april nitten hundrede og
seksoghalvfems.
Geschehen zu Luxemburg am zweiundzwanzigsten April
neunzehnhundertsechsundneunzig.
>ISO_7>øółżõ ėĮ˙ Ė˙įžõüņ˙žęó˙, ėĮłĖ õčś˙ėł ōž˙ ĮĘęłūč˙į ščūłń
õżżłńśŽėłń õżõżČżĮń ąžł.
>ISO_1>Done at Luxembourg on the twenty-second day of April in the
year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six.
Fait š Luxembourg, le vingt-deux avril mil neuf cent
quatre-vingt-seize.
Fatto a Lussemburgo, addü ventidue aprile millenovecentonovantasei.
Gedaan te Luxemburg, de tweeūntwintigste april negentienhonderd
zesennegentig.
Feito no Luxemburgo, em vinte e dois de Abril de mil novecentos e
noventa e seis.
Tehty Luxemburgissa kahdentenakymmenentenōtoisena pōivōnō huhtikuuta
vuonna tuhatyhdeksōnsataayhdeksōnkymmentōkuusi.
Som skedde i Luxemburg den tjugoandra april nittonhundranittiosex.
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002701.TIF">
Pour le Royaume de Belgique/Voor het Koninkrijk Belgiū/FŽr das
KŠnigreich Belgien
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002801.TIF">
Cette signature engage łgalement la Communautł fran÷aise, la
Communautł flamande, la Communautł germanophone, la Rłgion wallonne,
la Rłgion flamande et la Rłgion de Bruxelles-Capitale./Deze
handtekening verbindt eveneens de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, de Franse
Gemeenschap, de Duitstalige Gemeenschap, het Vlaamse Gewest, het
Waalse Gewest en het Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Gewest./Diese
Unterschrift verbindet zugleich die Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft,
die Flōmische Gemeinschaft, die FranzŠsische Gemeinschaft, die
Wallonische Region, die Flōmische Region und die Region
BrŽssel-Hauptstadt.
For Kongeriget Danmark
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002802.TIF">
FŽr die Bundesrepublik Deutschland
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002803.TIF">
>ISO_7>Ćłń Į÷ż Åūū÷żłśČ Ä÷ü˙śęńĮčń
>ISO_1>> PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002804.TIF">
Por el Reino de Espaęa
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002901.TIF">
Pour la Rłpublique fran÷aise
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002902.TIF">
Thar ceann na hÉireann/For Ireland
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002903.TIF">
Per la Repubblica italiana
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002904.TIF">
Pour le Grand-Duchł de Luxembourg
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.002905.TIF">
Voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.003001.TIF">
FŽr die Republik Österreich
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.003002.TIF">
Pela RepŪblica Portuguesa
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.003003.TIF">
Suomen tasavallan puolesta/FŠr Republiken Finland
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.003004.TIF">
FŠr Konungariket Sverige
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.003005.TIF">
For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.003006.TIF">
Por las Comunidades Europeas/For De Europöiske Föllesskaber/FŽr die
Europōischen Gemeinschaften/>ISO_7>Ćłń ĮłĖ ÅįęųĘńŪśąĖ
Ź˙łżŽĮ÷ĮõĖ/>ISO_1>For the European Communities/Pour les Communautłs
europłennes/Per le Comunitš europee/Voor de Europese
Gemeenschappen/Pelas Comunidades Europeias/Euroopan yhteisŠjen
puolesta/FŠr Europeiska gemenskaperna
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.003101.TIF">
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.003102.TIF">
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.003103.TIF">
LIST OF DOCUMENTS ATTACHED
>TABLE POSITION>
Protocol on mutual assistance between administrative authorities in
customs matters
ANNEX I
INDICATIVE LIST OF ADVANTAGES GRANTED BY THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN
TO THE INDEPENDENT STATES IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 9(3)
2. No export duties are applied with respect to goods delivered
under annual bilateral interstate trade and cooperation
arrangements, within the nomenclature stipulated therein.
4. No excise duties are applied on import.
ANNEX II
INTELLECTUAL, INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY CONVENTIONS
REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 42
1. Paragraph 2 of Article 42 concerns the following multilateral
conventions:
- Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Paris Act, 1971),
- International Convention for the Protection of Performers,
Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations (Rome, 1961),
- Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the
International Registration of Marks (Madrid, 1989),
- Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of
Goods and Services for the purposes of the Registration of Marks
(Geneva 1977 and amended in 1979),
- Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of
Micro-organisms for the purposes of Patent Procedures (1977,
modified in 1980),
- International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of
Plants (UPOV) (Geneva Act, 1991).
2. The Cooperation Council may recommend that paragraph 2 of Article
42 shall apply to other multilateral conventions. If problems in the
area of intellectual, industrial and commercial property affecting
trading conditions were to occur, urgent consultations will be
undertaken, at the request of either party, with a view to reaching
mutually satisfactory solutions.
3. The Parties confirm the importance they attach to the obligations
arising from the following multilateral conventions:
- Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
(Stockholm Act, 1967 and amended in 1979),
- Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of
Marks (Stockholm Act, 1967 and amended in 1979),
- Patent Cooperation Treaty (Washington, 1970, amended in 1979 and
modified in 1984).
4. From the entry into force of this Agreement, the Republic of
Azerbaijan shall grant to Community companies and nationals, in
respect of the recognition and protection of intellectual,
industrial and commercial property, treatment no less favourable
than that granted by it to any third country under bilateral
agreements.
5. The provisions of paragraph 4 shall not apply to advantages
granted by the Republic of Azerbaijan to any third country on an
effective reciprocal basis and to advantages granted by the Republic
of Azerbaijan to another country of the former USSR.
ANNEX III
FINANCIAL SERVICES REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 26(3)
A financial service is any service of a financial nature offered by
a financial service provider of a Party. Financial services include
the following activities:
A. All insurance and insurance-related services
4. Services auxiliary to insurance, such as consultancy, actuarial,
risk assessment and claim settlement services.
B. Banking and other financial services (excluding insurance)
2. Lending of all types, including, inter alia, consumer credit,
mortgage credit, factoring and financing of commercial transactions.
4. All payment and money transmission services, including credit
charge and debit cards, travellers cheques and bankers drafts.
6. Trading for own account or for the account of customers, whether
on an exchange, in an over-the-counter market or otherwise, the
following:
(a) money market instruments (cheques, bills, certificates of
deposits, etc.);
(b) foreign exchange;
(c) derivative products including, but not limited to, futures and
options;
(d) exchange rates and interest rate instruments, including products
such as swaps, forward rate agreements, etc.
(e) transferable securities;
(f) other negotiable instruments and financial assets, including
bullion.
7. Participation in issues of all kinds of securities, including
underwriting and placement as agent (whether publicly or privately)
and provision of services related to such issues.
9. Asset management, such as cash or portfolio management, all forms
of collective investment management, pension fund management,
custodial depository and trust services.
10. Settlement and clearing services for financial assets, including
securities, derivative products, and other negotiable instruments.
11. Advisory intermediation and other auxiliary financial services
on all the activities listed in points 1 to 10 above, including
credit reference and analysis, investment and portfolio research and
advice, advice on acquisitions and on corporate restructuring and
strategy.
12. Provision and transfer of financial information, and financial
data processing and related software by providers of other financial
services.
The following activities are excluded from the definition of
financial services:
(a) activities carried out by central banks or by any other public
institutions in pursuit of monetary and exchange rate policies;
(b) activities conducted by central banks, government agencies or
departments, or public institutions, for the account or with the
guarantee of the government, except when those activities may be
carried out by financial service providers in competition with such
public entities;
(c) activities forming part of a statutory system of social security
or public retirement plans, except when those activities may be
carried out by financial service providers in competition with
public entities or private institutions.
ANNEX IV
COMMUNITY RESERVATIONS IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 23(2)
Mining
In some Member States, a concession may be required for mining and
mineral rights for non-Community controlled companies.
Fishing
Access to and use of the biological resources and fishing grounds
situated in the maritime waters coming under the sovereignty or
within the jurisdiction of Member States of the Community is
restricted to fishing vessels flying the flag of a Community Member
State and registered in Community territory unless otherwise
provided for.
Real estate purchase
In some Member States, the purchase of real estate by non-Community
companies is subject to restrictions.
Audiovisual services including radio
National treatment concerning production and distribution, including
broadcasting and other forms of transmission to the public, may be
reserved to audiovisual works meeting certain origin criteria.
Telecommunications services including mobile and satellite services
Reserved services
In some Member States market access concerning complementary
services and infrastructure is restricted.
Professional services
Services reserved to natural persons who are nationals of Member
States. Under certain conditions those persons may create companies.
Agriculture
In some Member States national treatment is not applicable to
non-Community controlled companies which wish to undertake an
agricultural enterprise. The acquisition of vineyards by non-EC
controlled companies is subject to notification, or, as necessary,
authorisation.
News agency services
In some Member States limitations of foreign participation in
publishing companies and broadcasting companies.
ANNEX V
RESERVATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN IN ACCORDANCE WITH
ARTICLE 23(4)
Utilization of subsoil and natural resources, including exploration
and production, and mining
A concession may be required for foreign companies for exploration
and production of hydrocarbon resources as well as for mining some
ores and metals.
Fishing
Authorisation from the competent governmental body is necessary for
fishing.
Hunting
Authorisation from the competent governmental body is necessary for
hunting.
Real estate (immovable property) purchase
Foreign companies are not allowed to acquire plots of land. Those
companies can, however, lease plots of land on a long-term basis.
Banking services
Total capital of foreign-owned banks may not exceed a given
percentage of the total capital in the domestic banking system.
Azerbaijan undertakes not to reduce for Azerbaijani subsidiaries and
branches of Community companies, the ceiling limiting the overall
share of foreign capital in the Azerbaijani banking system which
applies on the date of initialling of this Agreement unless so
required under the framework of IMF programmes in Azerbaijan.
At the latest within five years from the date of signature of the
Agreement, Azerbaijan will consider the possibility of increasing
the ceiling, taking into consideration all relevant monetary,
fiscal, financial and balance-of-payments considerations and the
state of the banking system of Azerbaijan.
Telecommunications and mass media services
Some limitations may be applied to foreign participation.
Professional activities
Some activities are closed, limited, or subject to special
requirements for natural persons who are not Azerbaijani nationals.
Historical buildings and monuments
Activities in this area are subject to restrictions.
The application of the reservations in this Annex can in no case
result in treatment less favourable than that accorded to companies
of any third country.
PROTOCOL
on mutual assistance between administrative authorities in customs
matters
Article 1
Definitions
For the purposes of this Protocol:
(a) "customs legislation" shall mean any legal or regulatory
provisions applicable in the territory of the Parties governing the
import, export, transit of goods and their placing under any customs
procedure, including measures of prohibition, restriction and
control;
(b) "applicant authority", shall mean a competent administrative
authority which has been appointed by a Party for this purpose and
which makes a request for assistance in customs matters;
(c) "requested authority", shall mean a competent administrative
authority which has been appointed by a Party for this purpose and
which receives a request for assistance in customs matters;
(d) "personal data", shall mean all information relating to an
identified or identifiable individual.
Article 2
Scope
1. The Parties shall assist each other, in the areas within their
jurisdiction, in the manner and under the conditions laid down in
this Protocol, in preventing, detecting and investigating operations
in breach of customs legislation.
2. Assistance, in customs matters, as provided for in this Protocol,
shall apply to any administrative authority of the Parties which is
competent for the application of this Protocol. It shall not
prejudice the rules governing mutual assistance in criminal matters.
Nor shall it cover information obtained under powers exercised at
the request of the judicial authority, unless those authorities so
agree.
Article 3
Assistance on request
1. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested
authority shall furnish it with all relevant information to enable
it to ensure that customs legislation is correctly applied,
including information regarding operations noted or planned which
are or could be in breach of such legislation.
2. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested
authority shall inform it whether goods exported from the territory
of one of the Parties have been properly imported into the territory
of the other Party, specifying, where appropriate, the customs
procedure applied to the goods.
3. At the request of the applicant authority, the requested
authority shall, within the framework of its laws, take the
necessary steps to ensure that a surveillance is kept on:
(a) natural or legal persons of whom there are reasonable grounds
for believing that they are breaching or have breached customs
legislation;
(b) places where goods are stored in a way that gives grounds for
suspecting that they are intended to supply operations in breach of
customs legislation;
(c) movements of goods notified as possibly giving rise to breaches
of customs legislation;
(d) means of transport for which there are reasonable grounds for
believing that they have been, are or might be used in operations in
breach of customs legislation.
Article 4
Spontaneous assistance
The Parties shall provide each other, in accordance with their laws,
rules and other legal instruments, with assistance without prior
request if they consider that to be necessary for the correct
application of customs legislation, particularly when they obtain
information pertaining to:
- operations which are or appear to be in breach of such legislation
and which may be of interest to another Party,
- new means or methods employed in carrying out such operations,
- goods known to be subject to breaches of customs legislation,
- natural or legal persons of whom there are reasonable grounds for
believing that they are or have been in breach of customs
legislation,
- means of transport for which there are reasonable grounds for
believing that they have been, are or might be used in operations in
breach of customs legislation.
Article 5
Delivery/notification
At the request of the applicant authority, the requested authority
shall in accordance with its legislation, take all necessary
measures in order:
- to deliver all documents,
- to notify all decisions,
falling within the scope of this Protocol to an addressee, residing
or established in its territory. In such cases Article 6(3) shall
apply as far as the request itself is concerned.
Article 6
Form and substance of requests for assistance
1. Requests pursuant to this Protocol shall be made in writing. They
shall be accompanied by the documents necessary to enable compliance
with the request. When required because of the urgency of the
situation, oral requests may be accepted, but must be confirmed in
writing immediately.
2. Requests pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article shall include
the following information:
(a) the applicant authority making the request;
(b) the measure requested;
(c) the object of and the reason for the request;
(d) the laws, rules and other legal elements involved;
(e) indications as exact and comprehensive as possible on the
natural or legal persons who are the target of the investigations;
(f) a summary of the relevant facts and of the enquiries already
carried out, except in cases provided for in Article 5.
3. Requests shall be submitted in an official language of the
requested authority or in a language acceptable to such authority.
4. If a request does not meet the formal requirements, its
correction or completion may be requested; precautionary measures
may, however, be ordered.
Article 7
Execution of requests
1. In order to comply with a request for assistance, the requested
authority shall proceed, within the limits of its competence and
available resources, as though it were acting on its own account or
at the request of other authorities of that same Party, by supplying
information already possessed, by carrying out appropriate enquiries
or by arranging for them to be carried out. This provision shall
also apply to the administrative department to which the request has
been addressed by the requested authority when the latter cannot act
on its own.
2. Requests for assistance will be executed in accordance with the
laws, rules and other legal instruments of the requested Party.
3. Duly authorised officials of a Party may, with the agreement of
the other Party involved and within the conditions laid down by the
latter, obtain from the offices of the requested authority or other
authority for which the requested authority is responsible,
information relating to operations which are or may be in breach of
customs legislation which the applicant authority needs for the
purposes of this Protocol.
4. Officials of a Party may, with the agreement of the other Party
involved and subject to the conditions laid down by the latter, be
present at enquiries carried out in the latter's territory.
Article 8
Form in which information is to be communicated
1. The requested authority shall communicate results of enquiries to
the applicant authority in the form of documents, certified copies
of documents, reports and the like.
2. The documents provided for in paragraph 1 may be replaced by
computerised information produced in any form for the same purpose.
Article 9
Exceptions to the obligation to provide assistance
1. The Parties may refuse to give assistance as provided for in this
Protocol, where to do so would:
(a) be likely to prejudice the sovereignty of the Republic of
Azerbaijan or that of a Member State which has been asked for
assistance under this Protocol; or
(b) be likely to prejudice public policy, security or other
essential interests, in particular in the cases referred to under
Article 10(2); or
(c) involve currency or tax regulations other than customs duties
legislation; or
(d) violate an industrial, commercial or professional secret.
2. Where the applicant authority asks for assistance which it would
itself be unable to provide if so asked, it shall draw attention to
that fact in its request. It shall then be left to the requested
authority to decide how to respond to such a request.
3. If assistance is refused, the decision and the reasons therefore
must be notified to the applicant authority without delay.
Article 10
Information exchange and confidentiality
1. Any information communicated in whatsoever form pursuant to this
Protocol shall be of a confidential or restricted nature, depending
on the rules applicable in each of the Parties. It shall be covered
by the obligation of official secrecy and shall enjoy the protection
extended to like information under the relevant laws of the Party
which received it and the corresponding provisions applying to the
Community institutions.
2. Personal data may be exchanged only where the receiving Party
undertakes to protect such data in at least an equivalent way to the
one applicable to that particular case in the supplying Party.
3. Information obtained shall be used solely for the purposes of
this Protocol. Where one of the Parties requests the use of such
information for other purposes, it shall ask for the prior written
consent of the authority which furnished the information. Moreover,
it shall be subject to any restrictions laid down by that authority.
4. Paragraph 3 shall not impede the use of information in any
judicial or administrative proceedings subsequently instituted for
failure to comply with customs legislation. The competent authority
which supplied that information shall be notified of such use.
5. The Parties may, in their records of evidence, reports and
testimonies and in proceedings and charges brought before the
courts, use as evidence information obtained and documents consulted
in accordance with the provisions of this Protocol.
Article 11
Experts and witnesses
1. An official of a requested authority may be authorised to appear,
within the limitations of the authorisation granted, as an expert or
witness in judicial or administrative proceedings regarding the
matters covered by this Protocol in the jurisdiction of the other
Party, and produce such objects, documents or authenticated copies
thereof, as may be needed for the proceedings. The request for an
appearance must indicate specifically on what matters and by virtue
of what title or qualification the official will be questioned.
2. The authorised official shall enjoy the protection guaranteed by
existing legislation to officials of the applicant authority on its
territory.
Article 12
Assistance expenses
The Parties shall waive all claims on each other for the
reimbursement of expenses incurred pursuant to this Protocol,
except, as appropriate, for expenses to experts and witnesses and to
interpreters and translators who are not public service employees.
Article 13
Application
1. The application of this Protocol shall be entrusted to the
central customs authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the one
hand and the competent services of the Commission of the European
Communities and, where appropriate, the customs authorities of the
Member States on the other. They shall decide on all practical
measures and arrangements necessary for its application, taking into
consideration the rules in force in the field of data protection.
They may recommend to the competent bodies amendments which they
consider be made to this Protocol.
2. The Parties shall consult each other and subsequently keep each
other informed of the detailed rules of implementation which are
adopted in accordance with the provisions of this Protocol.
Article 14
Complementary
Without prejudice to Article 10, any agreements on mutual assistance
which have been concluded between one or more Member States and the
Republic of Azerbaijan shall not prejudice Community provisions
governing the communication between the competent services of the
Commission of the European Communities and the customs authorities
of the Member States of any information obtained in customs matters
which could be of Community interest.
FINAL ACT
The plenipotentiaries of:
THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM,
THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK,
THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,
THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,
THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN,
THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,
IRELAND,
THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,
THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG,
THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS,
THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA,
THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC,
THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND,
THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN,
THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,
Contracting Parties to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel
Community and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy
Community,
hereinafter referred to as "the Member States", and of
the EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, the EUROPEAN COAL AND STEEL COMMUNITY, and
the EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITY, hereinafter referred to as
"the Community",
of the one part, and
the plenipotentiaries of the REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN,
of the other part,
meeting at Luxembourg on the twenty-second day of April in the year
one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six for the signature of the
Partnership and Cooperation Agreement establishing a partnership
between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one
part, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, of the other part, hereinafter
referred to as "the Agreement", have adopted the following texts:
the Agreement including its Annexes and the following Protocol:
Protocol on mutual assistance between administrative authorities in
customs matters.
The plenipotentiaries of the Member States and of the Community and
the plenipotentiaries of the Republic of Azerbaijan have adopted the
texts of the Joint Declarations listed below and annexed to this
Final Act:
Joint Declaration concerning the 12th recital in the preamble to the
Agreement
Joint Declaration concerning Article 4 of the Agreement
Joint Declaration in relation to Article 6 of the Agreement
Joint Declaration concerning Article 15 of the Agreement
Joint Declaration concerning the notion of "control" in Article
25(b) and Article 36
Joint Declaration concerning Article 35 of the Agreement
Joint Declaration concerning Article 42 of the Agreement
Joint Declaration concerning Article 55 of the Agreement
Joint Declaration concerning Article 98 of the Agreement.
The plenipotentiaries of the Member States and of the Community and
the plenipotentiaries of the Republic of Azerbaijan have further
taken note of the Declaration by the French Government on its
overseas countries and territories annexed to this Final Act.
The plenipotentiaries of the Member States and of the Community and
the plenipotentiaries of the Republic of Azerbaijan have also taken
note of the following Exchange of Letters annexed to this Final Act:
Exchange of Letters between the Community and the Republic of
Azerbaijan in relation to the establishment of companies.
Hecho en Luxemburgo, el veintidės de abril de mil novecientos
noventa y seis.
Udfördiget i Luxembourg, den toogtyvende april nitten hundrede og
seksoghalvfems.
Geschehen zu Luxemburg am zweiundzwanzigsten April
neunzehnhundertsechsundneunzig.
>ISO_7>øółżõ ėĮ˙ Ė˙įžõüņ˙žęó˙, ėĮłĖ õčś˙ėł ōž˙ ĮĘęłūč˙į ščūłń
õżżłńśŽėłń õżõżČżĮń ąžł.
>ISO_1>Done at Luxembourg on the twenty-second day of April in the
year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six.
Fait š Luxembourg, le vingt-deux avril mil neuf cent
quatre-vingt-seize.
Fatto a Lussemburgo, addü ventidue aprile millenovecentonovantasei.
Gedaan te Luxemburg, de tweeūntwintigste april negentienhonderd
zesennegentig.
Feito no Luxemburgo, em vinte e dois de Abril de mil novecentos e
noventa e seis.
Tehty Luxemburgissa kahdentenakymmenentenōtoisena pōivōnō huhtikuuta
vuonna tuhatyhdeksōnsataayhdeksōnkymmentōkuusi.
Som skedde i Luxemburg den tjugoandra april nittonhundranittiosex.
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004401.TIF">
Pour le Royaume de Belgique/Voor het Koninkrijk Belgiū/FŽr das
KŠnigreich Belgien
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004501.TIF">
Cette signature engage łgalement la Communautł fran÷aise, la
Communautł flamande, la Communautł germanophone, la Rłgion wallonne,
la Rłgion flamande et la Rłgion de Bruxelles-Capitale./Deze
handtekening verbindt eveneens de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, de Franse
Gemeenschap, de Duitstalige Gemeenschap, het Vlaamse Gewest, het
Waalse Gewest en het Brusselse Hoofdstedelijke Gewest./Diese
Unterschrift verbindet zugleich die Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft,
die Flōmische Gemeinschaft, die FranzŠsische Gemeinschaft, die
Wallonische Region, die Flōmische Region und die Region
BrŽssel-Hauptstadt.
For Kongeriget Danmark
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004502.TIF">
FŽr die Bundesrepublik Deutschland
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004503.TIF">
>ISO_7>Ćłń Į÷ż Åūū÷żłśČ Ä÷ü˙śęńĮčń
>ISO_1>> PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004504.TIF">
Por el Reino de Espaęa
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004601.TIF">
Pour la Rłpublique fran÷aise
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004602.TIF">
Thar ceann na hÉireann/For Ireland
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004603.TIF">
Per la Repubblica italiana
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004604.TIF">
Pour le Grand-Duchł de Luxembourg
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004605.TIF">
Voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004701.TIF">
FŽr die Republik Österreich
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004702.TIF">
Pela RepŪblica Portuguesa
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004703.TIF">
Suomen tasavallan puolesta/FŠr Republiken Finland
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004704.TIF">
FŠr Konungariket Sverige
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004705.TIF">
For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004706.TIF">
Por las Comunidades Europeas/For De Europöiske Föllesskaber/FŽr die
Europōischen Gemeinschaften/>ISO_7>Ćłń ĮłĖ ÅįęųĘńŪśąĖ
Ź˙łżŽĮ÷ĮõĖ/>ISO_1>For the European Communities/Pour les Communautłs
europłennes/Per le Comunitš europee/Voor de Europese
Gemeenschappen/Pelas Comunidades Europeias/Euroopan yhteisŠjen
puolesta/FŠr Europeiska gemenskaperna
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004801.TIF">
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004802.TIF">
>PIC FILE= "L_1999246EN.004803.TIF">
Joint Declaration concerning the 12th recital in the preamble
The Parties confirm that the 12th recital in the preamble to this
Agreement does not imply any judgment as to which countries, other
than Azerbaijan, energy products should transit.
Joint Declaration concerning Article 4
In reviewing changing circumstances in the Republic of Azerbaijan,
as foreseen in Article 4, the Parties shall discuss important
changes which may have a significant bearing on Azerbaijan's future
development. This could include accession by Azerbaijan to the WTO,
the Council of Europe or other international bodies or accession to
any regional customs union or any form of regional integration
agreement.
Joint Declaration in relation to Article 6
Should the Parties agree that circumstances warrant meetings at the
highest level, such meetings may be arranged on an ad hoc basis.
Joint Declaration concerning Article 15
Until the Republic of Azerbaijan accedes to the WTO, the Parties
shall hold consultations in the Cooperation Committee on their
import tariff policies, including changes in tariff protection. In
particular, such consultations shall be offered prior to the
increase of tariff protection.
Joint Declaration concerning the notion of "control" in Article
25(b) and Article 36
1. The Parties confirm their mutual understanding that the question
of control shall depend on the factual circumstances of the
particular case.
2. A company shall, for example, be considered as being "controlled"
by another company, and thus a subsidiary of such other company if:
- the other company holds directly or indirectly a majority of the
voting rights, or
- the other company has the right to appoint or dismiss a majority
of the administrative organ, of the management organ or of the
supervisory organ and is at the same time a shareholder or member of
the subsidiary;
3. Both Parties consider the criteria in paragraph 2 to be
non-exhaustive.
Joint Declaration concerning Article 35
The sole fact of requiring a visa for natural persons of certain
Parties and not for those of others shall not be regarded as
nullifying or impairing benefits under a specific commitment.
Joint Declaration concerning Article 42
The Parties agree that for the purpose of the Agreement,
intellectual, industrial and commercial property includes in
particular copyright, including the copyright in computer programs,
and neighbouring rights, the rights relating to patents, industrial
designs, geographical indications, including appellations of origin,
trademarks and service marks, topographies of integrated circuits as
well as protection against unfair competition as referred to in
Article 10bis of the Paris Convention for the Protection of
Industrial Property and Protection of Undisclosed Information on
Know-how.
Joint Declaration concerning Article 55
The provisions of Article 55(3) shall not require either of the
Parties to provide information of a confidential nature.
Joint Declaration concerning Article 98
1. The Parties agree, for the purpose of its correct interpretation
and its practical application, that the term "cases of special
urgency"included in Article 98 of the Agreement means cases of
material breach of the Agreement by one of the Parties. A material
breach of the Agreement consists in:
(a) repudiation of the Agreement not sanctioned by the general rules
of international law;
or
(b) violation of the essential elements of the Agreement set out in
Article 2.
2. The Parties agree that the "appropriate measures" referred to in
Article 98 are measures taken in accordance with international law.
If a party takes a measure in a case of special urgency as provided
for under Article 98, the other party may avail itself of the
procedure relating to settlement of disputes.
Declaration by the French Government on its overseas countries and
territories
The French Republic notes that the Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement with the Republic of Azerbaijan does not apply to the
overseas countries and territories associated with the European
Community pursuant to the Treaty establishing the European
Community.
EXCHANGE OF LETTERS
between the Community and the Republic of Azerbaijan in relation to
the establishment of companies
A. Letter from the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Sir,
I refer to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement initialled on
19 December 1995.
As I underlined during the negotiations, the Republic of Azerbaijan
grants to Community companies establishing and operating in the
Republic of Azerbaijan in certain respects a privileged treatment. I
explained that this reflects the Azerbaijani policy to promote by
all means the establishment of Community companies in the Republic
of Azerbaijan.
With this in mind, it is my understanding that during the period
between the date of initialling of this Agreement and the entry into
force of the relevant articles on establishment of companies, the
Republic of Azerbaijan shall not adopt measures or regulations which
would introduce or worsen discrimination of Community companies
vis-š-vis Azerbaijani companies or companies from any third country
as compared to the situation existing on the date of initialling of
this Agreement.
I would be obliged if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter.
Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.
For the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan
B. Letter from the European Community
Sir,
Thank you for your letter of today's date, which reads as follows:
"I refer to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement intialled on
19 December 1995.
As I underlined during the negotiations, the Republic of Azerbaijan
grants to Community companies establishing and operating in the
Republic of Azerbaijan in certain respects a privileged treatment. I
explained that this reflects the Azerbaijani policy to promote by
all means the establishment of Community companies in the Republic
of Azerbaijan.
With this in mind, it is my understanding that during the period
between the date of initialling of this Agreement and the entry into
force of the relevant articles on establishment of companies, the
Republic of Azerbaijan shall not adopt measures or regulations which
would introduce or worsen discrimination of Community companies
vis-š-vis Azerbaijani companies or companies from any third country
as compared to the situation existing on the date of initialling of
this Agreement.
I would be obliged if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter."
I acknowledge receipt of the letter.
Please accept, Sir, the assurance of my highest consideration.
On behalf of the European Community