For the past four years Syria has been begging for a partnership with the EU. Now the EU agrees, Syria says it'll think about it, Bassel Oudat reports from Damascus On 8 October, the EU said it was ready to sign a Syrian- European Partnership Agreement. It asked Syria's foreign minister to sign the agreement in Luxembourg on 26 October. Syria has been asking Europe for the agreement for the past four years. So you'd think that the reaction in Damascus would be one of joy. Well, it wasn't. Damascus ignored the offer for a few days. Then Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallim said the agreement is unlikely to be signed on the designated date. "The European decision to sign the agreement has come as a surprise to us," he said. Apparently, Syria needs more time to think it over. Syrian officials now say they hope to finish scrutinising the agreement before the end of the year, or perhaps sometime next year. Syria has officially asked for the signing to be postponed to an unspecified date. Damascus said it needed time to read the agreement and assess its impact on the Syrian economy. As the agreement involves the abrogation of custom duties on European merchandise, some sectors of the Syrian economy may be affected, the Syrians said. The EU answered the Syrians calmly. The Syrian need to "think things over" was understandable, EU officials said. A new date for the signing would be set once Damascus had finished going over the agreement. Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad last week tried to soften his country's surprise reaction to the partnership agreement. During a joint news conference with Finnish President Tarja Halonen in Damascus, the Syrian leader said that he was always in favour of partnership with Europe. "But the signing of the agreement is a technical matter, and we need to look once again at the partnership agreement," he said. Syrian officials gave no reason for the move, apart from the refrain that "we need more time to look into it." It is worth noting that a draft agreement springs from a meeting held in Damascus in December 2008. Back then, Syria approved all articles of the agreement and asked for no change whatsoever. Syria and the EU first initialled an earlier version of the agreement in autumn of 2004, following years of negotiations. The agreement was shelved after the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri in 2005. Subsequently, the EU called on Syria to pull out its troops from Lebanon and introduce reforms. Damascus, the EU said, should liberalise its politics and economy and improve its human rights record. No such conditions have been imposed on other countries that signed partnership agreements with the EU in the past. Syria has since met the economic conditions set, and even changed its foreign policy to some extent. It has launched a plan for economic transformation aimed at creating what it calls a "social market economy". It has liberalised trade, reduced customs duties, and removed subsidies on several basic commodities. It also opened the door to foreign investment. In addition, Damascus made extensive preparations for the partnership agreement, setting up several administrative bodies to manage the partnership, including the Higher Council on Partnership that includes most government ministers. Syria also named a consultative team to guide domestic agencies with the partnership process. Analysts think that Damascus is paying the Europeans back for their reluctance to move on with the agreement in the past. Damascus may be under the impression that making the EU wait a bit makes it all look a bit better. The partnership agreement allows Syria to receive more assistance from EU countries. European officials hope the arrangement would entice the Syrians to be a "constructive" voice in the region. Syria is the only country of the signatories of the Barcelona Declaration that hasn't signed a partnership agreement with the EU. Partnerships agreements with the EU are designed to create a free trade zone encompassing Mediterranean and European countries by 2010. Syria is said to be alarmed by a 1,500-page political declaration that the EU intends to append to the agreement. The declaration is bound to reiterate calls for political pluralism, media freedom, and human rights. Syrian authorities, which make a habit of arresting opponents and restricting freedoms, balk at the prospect. According to well-informed European sources, Syria doesn't want to sign a document that no other Arab country has been asked to sign under similar circumstances in the past. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a European diplomat told Al-Ahram Weekly that, "Europe cannot justify signing the partnership agreement unless there is an improvement in human rights in Syria, a country with a very poor reputation in Europe on that account." Several European countries have voiced opposition to the agreement. One of those, the Netherlands, vetoed the deal more than once. Dutch officials are alarmed by Syria's human rights situation, including the considerable number of political detainees languishing in Syrian prisons. The Netherlands wants the agreement suspended until human rights abuses in Syria end. Other European countries argue that signing the partnership agreement will reinforce the position of "reformists" within the Syrian government. Sweden and France tried to offer a compromise wording of the political declaration. France suggested a non-binding provision on reforms. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner recently postponed a visit to Damascus. The visit, scheduled for 22 October, was put off "for organisational reasons", the French said. European sources say that the French minister postponed the visit because of his frustration with Syrian authorities for arresting a key human rights activist. Haitham Al-Maleh, 78, is a key opponent of the Syria regime. He has been awarded the Dutch Geuzen medal in 2006 for his efforts in defending freedom and democracy. A few days ago, he was arrested and charged of disseminating "false news", a crime punishable by 3-15 years in prison. Syrian officials say that the Netherlands, which voted against the Goldstone Report at the Human Rights Council, is double-dealing. Syrian officials maintain that there is no need to hurry about the agreement. Their government, they add, is busy implementing a battery of administrative, economic, and legislative reforms. According to government officials, much economic and social change has taken place between 2004 and 2009. They speak of the need to re-examine the terms of the agreement, especially with regard to the reform of the tax system and the liberalisation of trade and investment laws. They add that time is needed to assess the impact of the EU's acceptance of other countries, such as Romania and Bulgaria, as members. Damascus doesn't expect economic and political relations with Europe to be affected by the postponement. Observers say that Syria is unwilling at present to make any political concessions in return for having a partnership agreement with Europe. Now that Damascus has forged close links with Turkey and Iran, it believes that time is in its favour.
