Talks to finalise the draft Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union are set to begin in Dhaka tomorrow, Wednesday.
Officials in Dhaka hope the two-day meeting will be the final round of negotiations ahead of signing the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) by June.
Through the signing, Bangladesh expects a qualitative upgrade in its relations with the 27-member European bloc, the European Union.
Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Paola Pampaloni, deputy managing director of the European External Action Service, arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon to attend the meeting scheduled to be held in the capital tomorrow.
She will lead the European Union side at the talks. The Bangladesh delegation will be led by Md Nazrul Islam, secretary (east and west) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Officials said that on Wednesday afternoon, delegations from both sides will meet for the fifth and final round of talks. They hope that after four rounds of discussions, the two-day meetings in Dhaka and Sylhet will finalise the draft PCA, which contains 83 clauses. After completing some formalities, preparations will be made to sign the agreement by June.
Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that once the fifth and final round of talks nearly finalises the draft PCA, the European Union may take around two months to complete the administrative procedures.
Afterwards, it will be sent to Bangladesh. If everything proceeds smoothly, finalising the procedural matters could take several months after the formation of Bangladesh’s new government following the February elections.
In April last year, the first round of talks was held in Brussels to finalise the draft PCA. Subsequently, the second, third, and fourth rounds took place virtually in July and October.
Notably, Bangladesh is set to become the first South Asian country to sign a PCA with the EU. So far, within the broader Asian region, the EU has signed PCAs with Malaysia, Thailand, and Kazakhstan.
The proposed PCA with Bangladesh mentions cooperation in at least 35 areas, compared with 13, 15, and 19 sectors in the agreements with Malaysia, Thailand, and Kazakhstan respectively.
About 25 years ago, in 2001, Bangladesh and the EU signed a cooperation agreement focused primarily on development assistance. Through the new PCA, both sides aim to deepen that relationship, make it more multidimensional, and formally establish it on a political footing.
What is PCA and its significance
According to information published on the EU’s website, a PCA is a legally binding agreement that establishes a framework for cooperation between the EU and a partner country.
Through a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, the EU engages with partner countries on political dialogue, peace and security, governance and human rights, trade, economy, and financial cooperation. In other words, it supports democratic and economic development. It also aims to ensure the development of a strong free-market economy and a conducive environment for business and foreign investment. Strengthening trade relations and cooperation across various sectors is also part of its scope.
What the partnership agreement will include
Under the proposed PCA with Bangladesh, around 35 sectors are covered, including the rule of law, governance, human rights, labour rights, trade, investment, economic cooperation, connectivity, anti-money laundering, security, cyber security, climate change, energy, fisheries, skilled migration, and agriculture.
Once the PCA is signed, the existing cooperation agreement between Bangladesh and the EU will no longer be in effect. For context, Bangladesh signed a cooperation agreement with the EU in 2001, which covered areas such as the economy, development, governance, and human rights.
Aim of political advancement
To broaden the scope of relations between Bangladesh and the EU, a decision was taken on 25 October 2023 to begin discussions on a new EU-Bangladesh Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. The event in Brussels was attended by then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
Following this, the first round of PCA discussions was scheduled for September last year. However, considering the situation arising from the anti-discrimination student movement and mass uprising in Bangladesh, the EU had postponed the talks. Later, when the EU decided to sign the PCA with the interim government, informal discussions were held in Dhaka in November.