Press Release: EU-Iraq Partnership and Cooperation Agreement: a step closer to completion

The European Commission and the Government of Iraq are holding on 25-27 May 2009 another round of negotiations aimed at concluding a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA). This will be the eighth round of talks since negotiations started in November 2006, the most recent of which were held in Baghdad at the end of last February. During that round it was agreed to upgrade the draft Agreement from one on Trade and Cooperation to a more comprehensive Partnership Agreement, which provides for annual Ministerial meetings and the creation of a Cooperation Council. The negotiations will be led on the Iraqi side by Mohammed Haj Hammoud, Deputy-Minister of Foreign Affairs and by Hugues Mingarelli, Deputy Director-General for External Relations, for the Commission.