Overview
The provision of an association agreement was inserted in the Treaty of Rome on the EEC as a mean to ensure future cooperation of the Community with the United Kingdom, who had retreated from the negotiation at the Messina Conference of 1955. The first partners to benefit from the signature of such agreements were, in reality, Greece and Turkey in 1960.
The EU today typically concludes Association Agreements in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade, or human rights reform in a country. In exchange, the country may be offered tariff-free access to some or all EU markets (industrial goods, agricultural products, etc.), and financial or technical assistance. Most recently signed AAs also include a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EU and the third country.
Association Agreements have to be ratified by all the EU member states.
In recent history, such agreements are signed as part of two EU policies: Stabilisation and Association Process (SAp) and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The countries of the western Balkans are covered by SAp and the EU signs with them "Stabilisation and Association Agreements" (SAA). The countries of the Mediterranean and the East European EU neighbours (including South Caucasus, but excluding Russia that insists on creating four EU-Russia Common Spaces) are covered by ENP. Both the SAA and ENP AP are based mostly on the EU's acquis communautaire and its promulgation in the cooperating states legislation. Of course the depth of the harmonisation is less than for full EU members and some policy areas may not be covered (depending on the particular state).
In addition to these two policies AAs with Free Trade Agreement provisions are signed with other states and trade blocs in the world like Chile, Mexico, South Africa and others.
Read more about this topic: European Union Association Agreement