An association agreement signed between EU, Algeria

The European Commission has considered that signing the minutes of meeting of an Association Agreement between the EU and Algeria in Brussels on Wednesday as " the beginning of a new phase" in the bilateral relations.

The signing of the agreement marks the end of negotiations started several years ago between the EU and Algeria.

In a statement the European Commission added that the Association Agreement AA represents " a new framework for deepening bilateral relations." The AA was signed on Wednesday evening by the Algerian and European negotiators in the presence of the EC president Romano Prodi and the Algerian President Abdul Aziz Butaflika.

This AA falls in the course of the EU- Mediterranean partnership which started in 1995 between the EU 15 member states and the Mediterranean basin 12 states. It provides for promoting bilateral trade.

The AA also include a political side through establishing new commission to strengthen dialogue. It stated closer cooperation in the fields of education, culture, money laundry and fighting crime and terrorism. The two sides also vow to support human rights and democratic principles.