The European Union has shared the first draft of its planned discussions with Bangladesh on a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) aimed at elevating Brussels-Dhaka relations to a more strategic level.
The talks were put on hold due to recent political unrest, but with the formation of the interim government, Brussels has set a new date for the first round of negotiations.
“Much of EU-Bangladesh relations have been based on the 2001 Cooperation Agreement. More than 20 years later, it’s time for an update,” Bernd Spanier, chargé d'Affaires ad interim of the EU Delegation to Bangladesh, said in X, formerly twitters, as his office shared the first draft of the text with the foreign ministry on Thursday.
The first round of negotiations will begin on November 5, a day after the EU-Bangladesh joint commission meeting to be held with the Economic Relations Division in Dhaka, a government official confirmed to Dhaka Tribune.
“The intention (of PCA) is to upgrade our relations to include a wider range of policy areas, including climate change and security,” according to the EU head of delegation in Dhaka.
The PCA talk was earlier scheduled to be held in September, but Brussels postponed the talk on July 31 during the deadly protests that saw the resignation of Sheikh Hasina as the prime minister on August 5.
Once signed, Bangladesh would be the first South Asian country to have the PCA with the EU, which is the main trading partner accounting for 20.7% Bangladesh’s trade in 2023.
The cooperation pact is much more political in nature and seeks to enhance trade, economic and developmental relations between Bangladesh and the EU.
The process began in 2022 when Bangladesh and the EU held their first Political Dialogue on 24 November in Dhaka.
“The launching of the Dialogue marks a widening of cooperation between the two sides into strategic and thematic areas of mutual interest and is a landmark in Bangladesh-EU partnership which will complete 50 years in 2023,” Brussels said after the meeting.
In view of the increasing importance of EU-Bangladesh relations, including in the international domain, the EU proposed to initiate discussions towards concluding a PCA with Bangladesh.
Bangladesh expressed readiness to engage in discussions towards concluding a PCA, as Brussels said, the PCA will enhance the dialogue between both sides on issues of global concern and give more scope for mutually-beneficial cooperation in a wide range of policy and strategic areas.
The PCA will give Bangladesh-EU relations a new legal foundation, which is more comprehensive and up-to-date and will respond better to current and evolving challenges.
“It’s difficult to say when we can finalize the entire process. But it took two years for the EU to complete such a PCA with Thailand,” a government official who is aware of the talk told Dhaka Tribune.
The Thai Parliament approved the PCA on August 29.
“Among the key benefits of the PCA are its potential to boost trade and investment opportunities between Thailand and the EU, particularly by expediting negotiations for a Thailand-EU Free Trade Agreement, enabling access to best practice standards, and enhancing competitiveness. It also facilitates access to funding and research initiatives in science, technology, and innovation, all of which are essential for the country's economic recovery and development policies,” according to the Thai foreign ministry.
“The PCA also plays a role in facilitating travel for Thai citizens in supporting the consideration for Schengen visa exemptions for Thai ordinary passport holders.”
The EU-Bangladesh relations have deepened over the last fifty years and thus aimed at broadening the EU-Bangladesh engagement beyond the current priority areas of trade, migration, governance, humanitarian action and development cooperation.
Both sides agreed to step up cooperation on climate action, digital transformation, connectivity, traditional and non-traditional areas of security and agreed that the newly launched Political Dialogue would be held every year, alternately between Dhaka and Brussels, to provide strategic guidance and intensify foreign and security policy cooperation.
The PCA is divided into titles covering different areas of cooperation. Those include political dialogue; peace and security, governance and human rights; freedom, security and justice; trade and trade related matters; economy and sustainable development; financial cooperation and assistance.
“Almost all the issues from culture to defense can be discussed under the PCA. It will give more scope for mutually beneficial cooperation with the EU,” the government official told Dhaka Tribune.