LEGAL REGULATION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN AND THE EU AT THE PRESENT STAGE

Abstract

The author examines the legal problems of relations between the EU and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Negotiations between the parties to establish a new format of cooperation have been ongoing since 2013. Azerbaijan seeks the status of a strategic partner in the integration association, while the EU sees Baku as one of the partners in the Eastern Partnership and the broader European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). The author compares three draft documents proposed in different years as a basis for negotiations — the Strategic Modernization Partnership of 2013, the unnamed draft of 2015, which expanded the PCA, and finally the Partnership Priorities adopted in 2018. The author highlights the main aspects of the ENP in the last decade and examination of its Instruments — documents adopted to implement the ENP. The author also proposes four main systemic factors that have influenced the development of relations between the parties: the EU position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan's energy potential, the deterioration of relations between the EU and Russia, as well as the experience of other post-Soviet countries in the process of European integration.