BRUSSLES: The European Union on Monday revived its cooperation agreement with Syria as it looks to bolster the war-ravaged country, with an eye on prospects for Syrian migrants in Europe to one day return home.
Meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers agreed to fully reinstate the bloc's cooperation agreement with Syria ahead of talks with its top diplomat Asaad al-Shaibani.
Coming 18 months after the ouster of strongman leader Bashar al-Assad, the move "sends a clear political signal of the EU's commitment to re-engage with Syria and support its economic recovery," an EU statement said.
Trade provisions of the deal were suspended in 2011 when Assad ruthlessly cracked down on protests at the start of the country's civil war.
The 27-nation bloc has launched a new chapter with Syria since Assad's fall, with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen telling President Ahmed al-Sharaa in January that Europe would "do everything it can" to support Syria's recovery.
Arriving in Brussels, Shaibani called for bold action by the bloc.
"What is required today is a political will, a readiness to move from caution to full participation into the reconstruction of Syria," he told reporters.
More than a decade of conflict sent millions of Syrians fleeing abroad, and an EU official warned ahead of Monday's talks that "the reality on the ground is still appalling".
Around 13 million Syrians -- nearly half the population -- depend on food assistance, the official said.
The EU has already pledged 620 million euros ($730 million) in aid for the 2026-2027 period.
Several deals in cards
Syria-EU trade peaked at more than seven billion euros ($9.1 billion at the 2010 exchange rate) in 2010.
By 2023, EU imports from the country had dwindled to 103 million euros, while European exports to Syria stood at 265 million euros.
Looking ahead, the EU wants a more ambitious association agreement, similar to those struck with countries such as Egypt, Israel and Lebanon -- but EU commissioner Dubravka Suica cautioned that it would depend on "key reforms" by the transitional government.
Conditions included "making sure all Syrians contribute to decisions on the future of the country", ensuring transparency in economic governance and a "solid commitment to the rule of law and transitional justice", Suica said.
"These are crucial steps towards trust. They are essential reforms to build long-term resilience and prosperity," she added.
In the meantime, the EU said it would "continue exploring" ways to facilitate access to financing for Syrians -- crucial to revive the economy -- and announced 14 million euros to rehabilitate a major hospital in the western Homs region.
'Safe' and 'voluntary' returns
Syria's stability also interests many EU countries because its nationals have made up the lion's share of asylum-seekers in the bloc over a decade -- and there is a push for large numbers to eventually return home.
An EU official said the focus was "working on stability, on Syria's economic recovery -- because that really is the path for people to be able to go home in sustainable conditions."
The EU's largest Syrian diaspora -- at more than a million -- is in Germany, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz has embraced tougher migration policies as he seeks to counter the far right.
Merz triggered a backlash by declaring during a visit by Sharaa that he hoped 80 percent of Syrian refugees would return home within three years -- later clarifying this was a figure put forward by Sharaa himself.
Danish authorities have likewise been outspoken in pushing for Syrians to go home.
"We are not pushing anyone" to return, Suica told reporters.
"If it's safe, if it's voluntary, and if it's dignified, they can go home," she said, adding that with regards to conditions on the ground, she could not "speak on behalf of the Syrian government".
Pressed on the matter, Shaibani said only that "if Syrians living abroad consider that the conditions are in place for them to return, then they will be able to return".
"We don't want this to turn into a burden for the European countries," he said.