EU Restores Syria Trade Pact

(MENAFN) The European Union on Monday revived the full terms of its decades-old cooperation agreement with Syria, marking one of the most concrete diplomatic steps yet in rebuilding relations with Damascus following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's government.

The EU Council formally adopted a decision terminating the partial suspension of the Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and Syria — effectively repealing a 2011 resolution that had frozen portions of the deal in response to the Assad regime's human rights abuses.

"The decision sends a clear political signal of the EU's commitment to re-engage with Syria and support its economic recovery," the council said in a statement.

The original suspension, introduced in 2011 and broadened in 2012, had specifically targeted trade provisions covering Syrian exports — including oil, petroleum products, gold, precious metals, and diamonds. The council concluded that the circumstances underpinning those restrictions "are no longer present," citing Assad's fall in December 2024 and the bloc's earlier move this year to lift economic sanctions on Syria, with the exception of those retained on security grounds.

The reinstatement, the council explained, forms part of a wider EU strategy to foster "a peaceful and inclusive transition in Syria" and accelerate the country's socio-economic recovery.

Procedurally, the European Commission will formally notify Syrian authorities of the decision, after which the restored provisions will take effect on the first day of the following month.

The cooperation agreement — originally signed in 1977 — serves as the foundational framework governing economic and trade relations between the EU and Syria. The council reaffirmed the bloc's ongoing commitment to advancing human rights, inclusive governance, and Syria's broader reintegration into the global economic order.

MENAFN11052026000045017169ID1111096344