The EU doesn't seem eager to sign a partnership agreement with Syria in the near future EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana held talks with Bashar Al-Assad and other Syrian officials in Damascus last week, but refused to set a date for signing a partnership agreement with Syria. However, he voiced the hope that such an agreement would be signed sometime next year, Bassel Oudat looks into the Syrian-EU ties. Syria and the EU had been discussing a partnership agreement before 2004. But the talks stalled with the assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri. Taking a grave view of the assassination, Europe called on Syria to pull out from Lebanon (Syrian troops deployed in Lebanon in 1976 with Arab and Lebanese approval) and cooperate with the international investigation into the assassination. Europe also urged Damascus to make changes in its economic policies, introduce political reforms and show more respect for human rights. Four years after the suspension of the talks, Syria remains the only country of the Barcelona Declaration signatories that is yet to conclude a partnership agreement with the EU. The partnership agreements are considered a first step towards the creation of a free trade market involving all Mediterranean and European countries (including Israel and Jordan) by 2010. Syria and the EU initialled an agreement in Brussels in 2003, but the agreement needs the ratification of all European parliaments to go into effect. Even the rejection of one parliament is enough to stop the agreement in its tracks. Three European countries -- Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands -- have so far objected to the agreement, calling on Syria to sign a clause banning weapons of mass destruction as an additional condition for approving the agreement. The Syrians said that the request constituted interference in their domestic affairs, pointing out that the EU has signed a partnership agreement with Israel -- a country known to own a nuclear arsenal. Syria has taken some measures to appease the Europeans. It initiated a process of administrative and technical modernisation of its government agencies. It launched a plan for economic reform, aiming to introduce what it calls a "social market economy". It liberalised trade, reduced tariffs, lifted subsidies on some basic substances and opened the country to foreign investment. But Damascus failed to meet any of the political demands, especially those related to human rights and Syrian policy on Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq. Thinking that they had done enough, the Syrian officials started setting up the necessary administrative agencies to manage the partnership agreement. They even formed a higher partnership council (including most ministers), a technical committee and a team of consultants. Europe wasn't impressed. It once again asked Damascus to introduce political changes, both foreign and domestic. The EU called on Syria to stop interfering in Lebanese affairs, facilitate the election of a Lebanese president, draw the borders, exchange ambassadors, and stop fighters from infiltrating into Iraq. Damascus was also told to distance itself from Palestinian organisations, especially Hamas, improve ties with the official Palestinian Authority, sign an agreement banning weapons of mass destruction, and cooperate with the international investigation into Al-Hariri's assassination. It went even further, asking Damascus to launch a multi-party system, allow freedom of the press, release political prisoners, and uphold human rights. Until such demands are met, the EU made it clear that no partnership agreement would be signed. Syria is vexed by what it saw as European inflexibility. Syrian officials, including Al-Assad, said publicly that Europe was not Syria's only option, and that Damascus can find friends elsewhere, for instance, in Asia and Latin America. President Al-Assad went to India, boosted his country's economic ties with Malaysia, forged closer military ties with North Korea, and explored potential cooperation with China, Venezuela and several Latin American countries. The outcome of these efforts, however, has been modest compared to the advantages of better access to the European economy. Three months ago, Syria and France began a new round of bilateral talks, culminating in Sarkozy's visit to Damascus in September. As a result, Syria adjusted its policy on Lebanon, offered no resistance to the election of a Lebanese president, promised to exchange ambassadors with Beirut, and began monitoring its borders with Iraq more effectively. Syria is also becoming more moderate in its approach to Iraq, and has urged Hamas to exercise self-restraint. Damascus has invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and seems to be willing to improve ties with the Palestinian Authority. More importantly, it has held four rounds of Turkish-sponsored indirect talks with Israel. But Syria took no action whatsoever on its human rights record, political pluralism and press freedom. If anything, Damascus is clamping down on the opposition harder than before and restricting freedom with renewed zeal. Still, Syrian officials acted as if the changes they introduced were enough, and publicly stated that the Syrian- EU partnership agreement was at hand. They even suggested that France was throwing its weight behind this agreement. France, for its part, was quite reserved in its reaction. Paris hinted that the Syrians may be willing to change, but are yet to provide tangible proof of their intentions. A few months ago, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that the signing of the Syrian-EU agreement would "take more time". Commenting on Syrian-European relations, Gianni De Michelis, former Italian foreign minister and current president of IPALMO (a Rome- based research institute promoting international cooperation), told Al-Ahram Weekly that "the topic is not an easy one. We need to see a change in policy, which may take time. Syria's respect for certain measures with Lebanon could help." Solana's refusal to set a date for signing a partnership agreement with Syria only confirmed Europe's reluctance to give Damascus a clean bill of health. A few days before he arrived in Damascus, Solana said that the EU would resume negotiations with Syria as soon as it sees a tangible change in Syrian policies. Judging by how things have gone so far, this may take quite some time.
