EU Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner meets Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora

Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, meets today Lebanese Prime Minister, Fouad Siniora, in Brussels in the margins of the External Relations Council. The European Commission is committed to support Lebanon's own reform programme and to lay the foundations for a closer relationship between the EU and Lebanon, through the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). This relationship will deepen in the next weeks by the entering into force of the Association Agreement on 1 April, the start of consultations for the Lebanon ENP Action Plan the first week of April, and the holding of the first EU-Lebanon Association Council on 11 April.

Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner said: "It is very important for Lebanon to actively pursue an agenda of necessary political and economic reforms to ensure a more stable, prosperous and democratic future. We are ready to support Lebanon's own reform programme through the Association Agreement, soon to enter into force, and the European Neighbourhood Policy." She added: "I welcome the national dialogue recently initiated by Lebanon. I hope that this broad dialogue will make yet another important contribution to the political stability of the country."

The Association Agreement, which will enter into force on 1 April 2006, provides a comprehensive framework for the economic, political and social dimensions to the EU-Lebanon partnership. The main aim of the Association Agreement is to create a free trade area between the EU and Lebanon over a period of 12 years, and help to increase economic growth. An Interim Agreement allowed the trade and trade-related provisions to enter into force already in March 2003. The first meeting of the EU-Lebanon Association Council will take place on 11 April in Luxembourg and will become the main feature for the EU-Lebanon political dialogue in the future.

Building on existing Association Agreements and complementing the Barcelona Process, the European Neighbourhood Policy is a unique agreement between the EU and its neighbours. The ENP offers additional economic and social benefits for Lebanon, through co-operation in a range of areas from strengthening democracy, rule of law, and human rights, to trade liberalisation, energy, and transport. The Commission and Lebanon will hold a first round of consultations on an ENP Action Plan on 6 and 7 of April in Brussels. In the ENP Action Plan, the EU and Lebanon will agree together on common objectives for the next few years. The Action Plan will be tailored to Lebanon's specific interests and needs.

For more information on the EU-Lebanon relations at

http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/lebanon/intro/index.htm

| Arriba |

• Speech by EU Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner: "Dialogue of Cultures - clash of civilizations or clash of ignorance?" (27/3/2006)
• Austrian Foreign Minister Plassnik: "Lebanon's political development on the right road" (21/3/2006)
• EU Council Conclusions on Lebanon (20/3/2006)
• The EU in the World - Speech by EU Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner (2/2/2006)
• EU Council Conclusions - Syria and Lebanon (7/11/2005)
• GAERC Conclusions on Syria and Lebanon (18/7/2005)
• EUHR Solana congratulates Lebanese for first round of polling (30/5/2005)
• Council conclusions on Lebanon (25/4/2005)
• Draft GAERC Conclusions on Lebanon (16/3/2005)
• EUHR Solana met with UNSG Special Envoy for Lebanon (8/3/2005)