Joint Declaration on the occasion of the EU-Algeria Association Council of 13 March 2017
Joint Declaration by the High Representative of the European Union, Federica Mogherini i, and the Algerian Minister of State and Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ramtane Lamamra, on the occasion of the EU-Algeria Association Council of 13 March 2017, Brussels
On the occasion of the Association Council, we wish to renew our mutual commitment to deepening our political dialogue and our strategic relationship through a more substantial and solid partnership. Our bilateral relationship is based on an Association Agreement, to which we reaffirm our commitment, but it is also based on a political dialogue on all issues of common interest, including at regional level.
We are committed to developing this ambitious partnership in a number of priority areas of cooperation, identified and agreed upon jointly, in a spirit of dialogue, with the aim of establishing an area of stability, democracy and sustainable social and economic prosperity.
We are much more than mere neighbours or trade partners, and we wish to take our bilateral relationship to a level which corresponds to our place in the region. Over the last two years we have held intensive contacts and discussions in a spirit of honesty and transparency and a quest for common denominators.
This approach has enabled us to achieve considerable progress in the context of the EU's revised European Neighbourhood Policy, thanks to the contribution of Algeria which, through its proposals, has made it possible to develop an instrument corresponding more closely to the expectations of the EU's partners and neighbours. In this connection, we welcome the adoption today of the EU-Algeria 'Partnership Priorities' for the period 2017-2020, the first initiative of its kind in North Africa.
We also welcome the conclusion of the evaluation of the Association Agreement, a process which we conducted jointly in 2016 and which enabled us to adopt, at the Association Committee meeting in Algiers on 7 December 2016, accompanying measures set out in the document entitled Constats et perspectives (Findings and prospects), aimed at improving the implementation of the Agreement to the benefit of both sides. This new framework will help to confirm the intention and aim shared by both parties to establish broad, comprehensive and in-depth cooperation at all levels.
The EU reaffirms its determination and its readiness to support the Algerian Government's efforts to consolidate democratic progress and the rule of law in Algeria on the basis of the implementation of the new constitutional provisions adopted in February 2016. The European Union is well aware of the many challenges Algeria has tackled in recent decades, and wishes to assure Algeria that the EU will support the country in the pursuit of its reform agenda, which will help to increase its attractiveness, particularly its economic attractiveness.
We would stress the importance of the forthcoming legislative elections in Algeria in strengthening participatory democracy, and we welcome the forthcoming deployment of an EU election expert mission. The 2017 mission is further proof of our full cooperation, as also demonstrated in the EU's previous missions during the 2012 and 2014 elections.
We remain convinced of the important role civil society has to play in enhancing ownership, promoting reforms and safeguarding democratic progress. The European Union remains committed to supporting Algeria in strengthening participatory democracy and associations. The EU welcomes the continuing efforts aimed at promoting the role of women and their empowerment within Algeria, protecting children and taking in refugees.
Algeria is facing budgetary and economic difficulties following the fall in international hydrocarbon prices. The EU reiterates its commitment to assisting Algeria in its efforts to support diversification, increase the competitiveness of the Algerian economy, and improve the business and investment environment.
The EU will also continue to support Algeria's accession to the World Trade Organisation. We have also agreed to strengthen the mechanisms of consultation to ensure the smooth functioning of the Association Agreement, so as to enhance the climate of trust between operators on both sides.
We reaffirm our willingness to strengthen the human dimension in our bilateral relations, through cooperation to promote a cultural and inter-religious dialogue that is respectful of what is distinctive and different about each party, and to combat the rise of extremism. We solemnly affirm that migration flows represent a wealth of opportunity for human, cultural, economic, social and scientific development. We also acknowledge that they can represent a challenge when they are not properly controlled.
In this context, we undertake, on the basis of a global, balanced and concerted approach, to continue our regular informal dialogue on all issues relating to mobility, migration and the right to asylum, and to develop cooperation projects, including triangular projects, to tackle the root causes of this growing phenomenon. We welcome the fact that two informal dialogue sessions have been held on migration and mobility since 2015, and we will continue our discussions in this area.
We also welcome the recent conclusion by the EU of the Protocol to the Association Agreement enabling Algeria to participate in EU programmes, the quality of our cooperation on civil protection, and the fact that Algeria is the first partner from the EU's Southern Neighbourhood to participate in the European Civil Protection Mechanism; this took the concrete form, in 2016, of a large-scale joint operational exercise and the signing of an operational administrative arrangement.
We commend the quality and extent of our strategic partnership in the field of energy since 2013, which has focused on promoting energy security, renewable energy and energy efficiency through a high-level political dialogue and the organisation of the first EU-Algeria Business Forum in Algiers in May 2016, as well as various meetings of experts on jointly identified areas for cooperation (gas, electricity, energy efficiency and renewable energy).
The EU welcomes the commitment undertaken by Algeria, faced with the common challenge of climate change, via its ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change and its environmental action plans. The EU reiterates its willingness to support Algeria in this area.
We welcome the successful joint efforts that culminated in the signing today of three financing agreements relating to three programmes adopted in November 2016. These programmes will enable us to increase our cooperation in three areas which reflect our partnership priorities, namely, the promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency, modernisation of public finance management, and improved functioning of the Association Agreement.
More generally, we welcome the new dynamic that has been created in the field of financial cooperation, the programming of which will need to be based on the 'partnership priorities', and we undertake to continue our discussions in order to agree on areas which will be the focus of ambitious cooperation for the 2018-2020 period, encompassing matters such as governance, diversification and competitiveness of the economy, inclusive and sustainable local development, participatory democracy, energy, climate action, etc.
The Association Council has provided the opportunity for discussions at a high political level on regional and international issues of common interest.
Far from dividing us, the threats posed by terrorism and violent extremism, which have seriously affected both Algeria and Europe, unite us in our commitment to providing a comprehensive, determined and concerted response, which tackles both the symptoms and the root causes. Today we affirm our readiness to tackle these common challenges together, along with all related issues, through appropriate consultations.
We welcome the decision taken at the 15th European Parliament-Algeria interparliamentary meeting in Algiers on 3 November 2016 to launch the process of setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), and we support this initiative which will improve and strengthen the interparliamentary dialogue.
We have agreed to continue our discussions and our enhanced dialogue on priority issues of common interest.