Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
the Parliamentary Relations and Devolution Team, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office
EU COMMISSION REPRESENTATION
IN AZERBAIJAN
During the former Foreign Secretary's evidence
session on developments in the EU/Pre European Summit with the
Committee on 19 June, Mrs Beckett was asked about the situation
with regard to EU Commission representation in Azerbaijan. She
promised a written response.
Our understanding is that a Commission Delegation
Office is expected to open in Baku by the end of 2007. The full
Delegation, which will include project work staff, is expected
to be in place by mid-2008. A Head of Delegation has yet to be
appointed, but one is expected in place by December 2007.
We had made a number of representations underlining
the need for a Delegation Office since the South Caucasus were
included in the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2004. In early
2006, the Commission proposed making the office a sub-office of
that in Tbilisi, Georgia. This proposal was not supported by the
local EU missions and proved unacceptable to the Azeri authorities.
In response to this the Commission decided to open a full Delegation
office.
Richard Cooke
Parliamentary Relations Team
2 July 2007
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