Lebanese- EU Association Agreement to be signed today in Brussels
Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri will head today for Belgium to take part in the ceremony of Lebanon's signing the Association Agreement with Lebanon at the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels.
Al-Hariri will be accompanied by the Lebanese minister of the economy Basil Fleihan and members of the Lebanese delegation who held the negotiations with the European Union to reach the draft agreement. Representatives of Lebanese ministries and administration concerned are taking part.
The agreement will be signed today evening by minister Fleihan on the Lebanese side while the EU aide will be signed by the EU president Romano Prodi.
The signing ceremony will be followed by a press conference to be held between al-Hariri and Prodi in which they will talk about means of revitalizing the Association Agreement and its impact on the political and economic relations between Lebanon and the EU.
Today night al-Hariri will leave Brussels to Paris in a private visit The Association Agreement between Lebanon and the European Union will replace the cooperation agreement signed between the two sides in 1978 and will permit the entry of Lebanese products without customs tariffs or restrictions within few weeks, while Lebanon will permit by 2014 the entry of European industrial produce to its markets at the same conditions.
Trade balance is inclined greatly at the meantime in favor of the European Union which is Lebanon's first trade partner in the world. Lebanon's imports from the EU is estimated at USD 3 billion annually ( almost 45% of the total Lebanese imports) while the Lebanese exports to the European Union are estimated at 150 million EURO per annum ( 20% of the total Lebanese exports.
Since 1978 Lebanon benefited from 1.8 billion EUROS of the EU aids, including 533 million EIUROS as loans from the European Investment Bank, 332 million EUROS from EU donations and more than 900 million EUROS from the EU member states ( 50% from Italy, 32% from France and 14% from Germany.).