Relations between the European Union and the Republic of Uzbekistan have been developing steadily since its independence in 1991. The signature of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in 1996 paved the way for a broader bilateral relationship.
Political dialogue; trade in goods; business and investment; intellectual, industrial and commercial property protection; legislative cooperation; economic cooperation; cooperation on matters related to democracy and human rights; cooperation on prevention of illegal activities and the prevention and control of illegal immigration; cultural cooperation and financial cooperation in the field of technical assistance are all covered in the PCA.
Since 2007, the EU and Uzbekistan have held annual Dialogues on Human Rights as well as Justice & Home Affairs in Brussels and Tashkent. EU relations with Uzbekistan are embedded in the regularly reviewed EU and Central Asia Strategy for a New Partnership, which outlines the overall cooperation objectives, policy responses and priority fields for the EU's engagement in Central Asia.
The new leadership of Uzbekistan under President Mirziyoyev has launched significant reforms of the judiciary, administration and security services and is making strides to improve the business climate. The EU encourages these and other reforms and in particular their effective implementation.
Several human rights defenders have recently been released from prison and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visited the country for the first time in May this year. The EU has engaged with the new leadership through repeated visits of the European Parliament, the EU Special Representative for Central Asia, European Financial Institutions and officials from the European External Action Service and the European Commission.
This process is complemented by concrete measures to support the Uzbek reforms, for example cooperation to implement the EU-Uzbekistan Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of energy has been renewed in February 2017.In November 2017 Uzbekistan will host the EU – Central Asia meeting of foreign ministers in Samarkand.
