The European Union and Kazakhstan have been partners since the country's independence in 1991. In December 2015, the European Union and Kazakhstan signed an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA). This new Agreement, the first of its kind with a Central Asian partner, brought relations between the EU and Kazakhstan to a new level and represented an important milestone in more than 25 years of EU-Kazakhstan relations. 

The EPCA, ratified by all EU Member States and the European Parliament, entered into force on 1 March 2020. The EPCA enables the EU and its Member States to advance and strengthen cooperation with Kazakhstan in key policy areas such as promoting mutual trade and investment, cooperation in justice and home affairs, economic and financial cooperation, energy, transport, environment and climate change, employment and social affairs, culture, education and research. 

At the regional level, the EU Strategy on Central Asia adopted in 2019, provides an excellent framework to strengthen regional cooperation by taking advantage of new opportunities in the region and addressing common challenges together. 

The European Union (EU) and Kazakhstan have established close economic and trade relations. 

• The EU is by far Kazakhstan’s first trade partner representing 40% of its external trade. 
• The EU is also the first foreign investor in Kazakhstan, representing 48% of total (gross) foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and approximately 60% of total net FDI stocks in 2018. 

The EPCA establishes an enhanced legal basis for EU-Kazakhstan relations. The EPCA Trade and Business provisions facilitate trade and investment relations through strengthening cooperation and ensuring a better regulatory environment for EU and Kazakhstan's companies in areas such as: 

• Trade in services.
• Establishment and operation of companies. 
• Capital movements.
• Raw materials and energy. 
• Government procurement. 
• Intellectual property rights. 

In May 2023, the Commission received a mandate from the Council to negotiate a Protocol to the EPCA with Kazakhstan as regards the protection of Geographical Indications (GIs) for agricultural products and foodstuffs, wines and spirits and represents an important milestone in more than 30 years of EU-Kazakhstan relations.  

On raw materials, on 7 November 2022, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Alikhan Smailov, prime minister of Kazakhstan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Strategic Partnerships on Sustainable Raw Materials, Batteries, and Renewable Hydrogen Value Chains. The strategic partnership with Kazakhstan on raw materials is part of the EU's policy to ensure access to a secure, diversified, affordable and sustainable supply of critical raw materials.

The MoU provides a political framework for enhanced cooperation in the current geopolitical context, while aiming to ensure the development of a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials and refined materials vital for the green and digital transitions and for the decarbonisation of energy production. By aiming to develop renewable hydrogen and battery value chains, it will boost the green and digital transformation of both sides’ economies. A 2023-2024 roadmap setting out concrete action to achieve the MoU's goals has been agreed with Kazakhstan.

EU fully respects Kazakhstan’s decision not to take sides in Russia’s war against Ukraine, but we work jointly with Kazakhstan in order to prevent the use of its territory as a platform for the circumvention of EU sanctions imposed on Russia. An intensive dialogue is going on in this respect on both political and technical level.

High-level discussions 

Economic and trade relations have regularly been on the agenda of the annual Cooperation Council of the EU and Kazakhstan, underlining their key importance in the partnership. 

Technical discussions on trade, investment and customs matters take place regularly in the Cooperation Committee, Cooperation Council in Trade Configuration and the Customs Sub-Committees, in Brussels and Astana. 

In June 2019, a high level EU-Kazakhstan Business Platform, was launched to enable regular and direct dialogue between the Kazakh Government and EU companies and Heads of Mission. Issues of common interest to EU and Kazakh businesses, such as cooperation on reducing technical barriers to trade, notably in the agro-food sector, and tax legislation in particular prospects for decriminalization of tax offences. 

Check Access2Markets online portal to learn about the EU trade agreements and regulations.

The bilateral dialogues on environment and climate change take place under the Subcommittee on Energy, Transport, Environment and Climate Change in the framework of the EPCA. 

Kazakhstan is an active member of the EU-Central Asia Working Group on Environment and Climate Change organised under the EU-Central Asia Platform for Environment and Water Co-operation. 

In December 2019, the European Commission introduced the European Green Deal, a roadmap for making the EU's economy sustainable by turning climate and environmental challenges into opportunities across all policy areas and making the transition just and inclusive for all.  

Kazakhstan ratified the Paris Agreement on 6 December 2016. Kazakhstan’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement sets an unconditional target of 15% reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions by 2030 in comparison to 1990 levels.

The EU is actively supporting Kazakhstan’s national programme for transition to green economy.

 For more information, please see the EU Projects page

Kazakhstan's economy is largely based on its oil sector, as well as on the extraction of coal and uranium, and other important raw materials. Kazakhstan is a major energy supplier to the EU and contributes towards the diversification of supply sources for the EU markets. 

With over 70% of its oil exports going to the EU (6% of EU oil demand), Kazakhstan is already the EU’s third largest non-OPEC supplier, after Russia and Norway. Kazakhstan exports its gas to Russia, Ukraine and China. 

Kazakhstan is also a member of the Energy Charter and pursues an active role in the currently on-going Energy Charter modernisation debate. 

Since bilateral relations began, the European Union and Republic of Kazakhstan have developed a strong and mutually beneficial relation in the field of energy. Major EU-based energy companies have significant investments in the Kazakh oil and gas industry. On the other hand, Kazakh national oil and gas company KMG controls important EU-based assets for refining, trading and retail in South-Eastern Europe and countries of the Eastern Partnership. 

Kazakhstan has very large reserves of uranium and ranks first in the world in terms of production and export of raw uranium. It is the single largest supplier to EU nuclear energy industry and meets more than 21% of the EU uranium demand. Kazakhstan’s oil and uranium exports are important to the European Union and make a positive contribution to the continent’s energy diversification. 

EU – Kazakhstan energy cooperation framework 

Kazakhstan’s increasing role in the EU energy landscape is supported by a well-developed legal and institutional framework of bilateral cooperation in the field of energy. The EPCA between the European Union and Kazakhstan, recognizes the need for enhanced, sustainable and effective cooperation in the field of energy, to ensure energy security, based on principles of mutual interest, reciprocity, transparency and predictability. 

More practical aspects of the EU – Kazakhstan energy relations are addressed in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Cooperation, concluded in 2006, which covers topics such as: 

• Energy security and investment. 
• Increasing security of supply. 
• Predictability of demand. 
• Construction/Upgrading transportation infrastructure of mutual interest. 
• Promotion of industrial cooperation (upstream and downstream). 

There are also several co-operation agreements in the field of nuclear energy, on general aspects related to the peaceful use of this type of energy, but also addressing specific areas, such as nuclear safety and nuclear fusion. 

Periodic meetings are organized between the EU and Kazakh officials, to discuss implementation of the respective agreements. 

Participation of Kazakhstan in EU-sponsored energy-related programs and initiatives 

EU has provided high-level political and significant financial support to the creation in Kazakhstan of the Low-Enriched Uranium Bank (LEUB), owned and controlled by the International Atomic Energy Agency, but operated by the Government of Kazakhstan, under its own legislation, in accordance with IAEA safety standards and security guidance. The bank is intended to assure countries with peaceful nuclear programs of a ready supply of LEU in case they cannot access it on the commercial market or otherwise. 

The EU and Kazakhstan are partners in the Energy Charter. Treaty Kazakhstan also benefits from the EU4Energy programme of technical support for the creation of competitive energy markets, promotion of renewables and efficient use of energy.