The European Parliament has postponed voting on an agreement with Turkmenistan until March 2011, according to the the Legislative Observatory on the European Parliament's web site. The agreement was supposed to be signed by late November but has now been delayed.
The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the European Commission and Turkmenistan is now scheduled for adoption in committee in the first reading on January 25, 2011, and for voting in plenary on March 7, 2011.
An interim trade agreement with Turkmenistan was signed in April 2009, pending debate on ratification of the PCA.
The Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on December 1, 2009, changed some technical aspects of such trade agreements, including decision-making procedures. A new "consent procedure" has replaced the old "assent procedure". The PCA is classified as an "interinstitutional non-legislative procedure". An absolute majority of MPs is needed to approve the PCA.
These changes are secondary to the main issues being debated by the European Parliament about Turkmenistan, however. There is some disagreement about the extent to which human rights have improved or worsened in Turkmenistan, and there is also some question as to whether or not Turkmenistan will participate in the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline.
