EU foreign ministers are set on Monday to prolong sanctions against Myanmar, while expressing their readiness to ease them and hold high-level talks if there is "genuine progress".
The European Union "deems it necessary to extend the current EU common position by another year, including the restrictive measures," reads a draft text to be adopted by the foreign ministers when they meet Monday in Luxembourg.
The 27-nation bloc "underlines its readiness to revise, amend or reinforce the measures it has already adopted in light of developments on the ground," the draft text adds.
The EU member states will also renew their perennial call for the immediate release of all political prisoners -- especially opposition leader and Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi --- and for "a peaceful transition to a legitimate civilian system of government.
The Myanmar military seized power in 1962 and maintains virtually total control on every aspect of life in the nation, formerly known as Burma.
The EU sanctions -- in place since 2006 -- include a travel ban and the freezing of assets of Myanmar's leaders and their relatives, as well as a ban on arms exports to Yangon.
The sanctions also limit diplomatic relations between the Southeast Asian nation and the European bloc.
The decision to renew the sanctions puts paid to any lingering hopes of a rapprochement which were fostered last month when the EU's senior Myanmar envoy said the European Union could consider easing its sanctions in April if it sees democratic progress.
Those sanctions were increased in 2007, due to a crackdown on Buddhist protests, to include a ban on timber, metals, minerals, precious stones from Myanmar and a ban on new investment in Myanmar companies operating in these sectors.
European and other nations are now looking forward to a general election to be held in Myanmar next year as a chance for the junta to ease its grip on power.
However the Myanmar authorities "have still to take the steps necessary to make the planned 2010 elections a credible, transparent and inclusive process based on international standards," the EU document said.
The text stresses that "the EU stands ready to respond positively to genuine progress in Burma/Myanmar," offering the possibility of ministerial level dialogue on their margins of an ASEM foreign ministers meeting in Hanoi next month.
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