PURPOSE: to conclude, on behalf of the European Union, the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union, of the one part, and the Kyrgyz Republic, of the other part.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act.

BACKGROUND: Relations between the European Union (EU) and the Kyrgyz Republic are currently based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) signed in Brussels on 9 February 1995, which entered into force on 1 July 1999.

On 21 September 2017, the Council adopted a decision authorising the opening of negotiations with the Kyrgyz Republic for an enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. After seven rounds of negotiations, the EU and the Kyrgyz Republic completed the negotiation of the PCA in June 2019. On 6 July 2019, the text of the PCA was initialled.

The Agreement should be approved on behalf of the European Union.

CONTENT: this proposal constitutes the legal instrument authorising the conclusion of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the Kyrgyz Republic.

This Agreement establishes an enhanced partnership and cooperation between the Parties, based on shared values, common interests and the ambition to deepen their relations in all areas of its application, to their mutual benefit. This cooperation is a process between the Parties that contributes to sustainable development, peace, stability and security, through increased convergence in foreign and security policy, effective political and economic cooperation and multilateralism.

The Agreement is an important step towards greater political and economic engagement by the EU in Central Asia . By strengthening political dialogue and enhancing cooperation in a wide range of areas, it will provide the basis for a more effective bilateral relationship with the Kyrgyz Republic.

The Agreement:

- covers the EU’s standard clauses on human rights, International Criminal Court (ICC), Weapons of Mass Destructions (WMD), Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and counter-terrorism;

- encompasses cooperation in areas such as health, environment, climate change, energy, tax, education and culture, labour, employment and social affairs, science and technology, and transport;

- further addresses legal cooperation, rule of law, money laundering and terrorist financing, organised crime and corruption;

- ensures a better regulatory environment for economic operators and will thus bring substantial economic benefits for EU businesses;

- sets up an institutional framework composed of the Cooperation Council, Cooperation Committee and Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, an Intellectual Property Rights Sub-Committee, and allows for the establishment of sub-committees and other bodies to assist the Cooperation Council;

- also establishes a fulfilment of obligations mechanism to address failure by one of the Parties to fulfil obligations assumed under the Agreement.