Chris Patten to visit Syria from 15 to 17 September 2003
Syria-European Union, Economics, 9/15/2003

The EU commissioner for foreign political affairs, Chris Patten, will pay an official visit to Syria from 15 to 16 September 2003. The main objective of the visit is to reinforce EU-Syria relations and speed up negotiations on an EU-Syria Association Agreement.

The visit takes place at a time when the European Commission is bringing forward a new strategy to deepen relations with its neighbors after enlargement, including Syria. Patten will also review the situation in Iraq and the state of the Middle East Peace process. He will discuss the process of economic modernisation and institutional reforms undertaken by President Assad.

On the eve of his departure, Patten stated "The European Union's new 'Wider Europe' policy will give a major boost to Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, and open new economic opportunities for our Euro-Med partners. I intend to underline the message that it is urgent to speed up negotiations so that Syria, the only partner in the region that has yet to conclude an Association Agreement with us, is not left behind."

Patten will be received by President Bashar al Assad, and will have meetings with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and the Minister of Economy and Trade. He will also visit the Syrian European Business Center, an EU funded project, meet representatives of the Syrian business community and hold a press conference.

The focus of Patten's visit will be on the bilateral EU-Syria relationship and the ways to strengthen it. A prominent theme of the discussions will be the prospects for an EU-Syria Association Agreement that should be rapidly concluded to prevent Syria falling behind the Euro-Mediterranean process. Such an agreement will not only cover trade and economic issues but also social and cultural relations, as well as the political dialogue between the parties. An essential element of the Agreement is the respect of democratic principles and fundamental Human Rights. Patten will be briefed on the views of the Syrian government on the conduct of the process of economic modernisation and institutional reforms in Syria, and the ways in which, as a foreign partner, the European Union can best support it. The EU has already concluded Association Agreements with the other eleven Euro-Mediterranean partners.

Patten will hold a press conference at 11:30 on September 16 at the Meridien Hotel in Damascus. Patten has taken up his duties as EU Commissioner for External Relations in September 1999. Prior to this appointment, he was successively Minister in the British Government and Governor of Hong-Kong.

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