WRITTEN QUESTION E-0720/96 by Clive Needle (PSE) to the Council (27 March 1996)

Subject: EEC-Syria Cooperation Council

What does the Council view as the specific benefits to arise from the EEC-Syria Cooperation Council apart from the usual benefits of dialogue? Which human rights cases have been progressed as a result of this dialogue, and how is the Council proposing to further those that have been brought to their attention such as Yusef Obeid?

Reply (10 October 1996)

The Cooperation Agreement between the Community and Syria was signed in 1978. Although technical and financial cooperation has developed over the years, the situation in the region long prevented any matching progress being made towards closer political relations between Syria and the EU.

The first meeting of the EC-Syria Cooperation Council on 28 November 1994 was made possible by the change that had taken place in the region and by the significant steps taken by the Syrian Government to allay Union Member State's concerns about its intentions on a number of particularly sensitive issues.

The Cooperation Council meeting provided the opportunity to review activities under the Cooperation Agreement but also to consider future EU-Syria relations in a broader perspective.

This process of rapprochement was continued at the second Cooperation Council meeting on 11 June 1996, at which the two sides discussed political issues of mutual interest, particularly the Middle East Peace Process, took stock of the development of trade and economic cooperation and gave the necessary political impetus to the strengthening of their relations.

More particularly, this meeting of the Cooperation Council provided the opportunity to

- reaffirm the parties' commitment to the success of the peace process and to endeavouring to remove the obstacles placed in the way;

- confirm the need for Syria to continue the process of modernizing its economy and carry on with the reforms begun for that purpose;

- note agreement on entering exploratory talks with a view to starting the negotiation of a Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement as soon as possible.

Relations between the EU and Syria are also developing favourably in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, under which Syria is participating actively in the priority action programme, which seeks to make the Mediterranean a cooperation area ensuring the peace, security, stability and prosperity of its peoples.

The Council considers it particularly important that there should be discussion of the human rights situation in Syria at meetings held in the context of Cooperation Council.

At the first Cooperation Council meeting, the European Union and Syria had an exchange of political views on human rights, during which the Council raised specific cases. At the second meeting, having indicated the EU's satisfaction in noting recent progress on human rights in Syria, the Presidency formally called on the Syrian authorities to go further down this path. The Presidency also gave a reminder that Syria had solemnly committed itself in Barcelona to supporting the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, that it had, like the other participants, restated objectives of domestic stability and had set out to intensify political dialogue on aspects including the strengthening of democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.