Uzbekistan and EU sign Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement

The agreement was inked at the EU Council headquarters during the Uzbekistan–Europe Summit, the presidential press service reported.

The new EPCA replaces the existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which came into force on 1 July 1999. Negotiations on the updated document began in July 2018. Initially, Uzbekistan planned to sign the agreement in 2020, but the pandemic delayed the schedule. The text was finalized by both parties in July 2022.

Unlike the previous framework, the EPCA establishes a comprehensive mechanism for cooperation between Uzbekistan and the EU. It introduces new areas of collaboration, including foreign policy, security, conflict prevention and crisis management, personal data protection, asylum and border control, irregular migration, anti-corruption measures, combating organized crime, and counter-terrorism.

The agreement opens broad opportunities for Uzbek producers to access European markets through liberalized trade and economic relations, the Ministry of Investments, Industry, and Trade emphasized.

Under the EPCA, trade procedures will be simplified, and technical barriers reduced, creating new export opportunities for Uzbekistan’s industrial sector and enhancing the competitiveness of its products in Europe.

The agreement also facilitates the free movement of capital and innovation, strengthens protection of direct investments, and consolidates legal guarantees, with a transparent legal environment expected to increase Uzbekistan’s attractiveness for European investors.

Moreover, the EPCA significantly expands cooperation in investment, trade, and intellectual property, based on WTO principles. The anticipated expansion of the GSP+ system and progress toward WTO accession are expected to further strengthen Uzbekistan’s position in international trade.

In Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have already signed similar agreements with the EU. Kazakhstan signed its EPCA in 2015, which fully came into force on 1 March 2020. The agreement covers 29 sectors and introduces new areas of cooperation not included in the 1995 agreement, such as space security, counter-terrorism, and civil service development.