ArmInfo. Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn hopes that the negotiations between Armenia and the EU around the new framework agreement will finish next year. He made the remark at the press conference on the results of the 8th non-official meeting of European Partnership countries' foreign ministers.
Commenting on possible influence of Brexit on the Eastern Partnership Hahn stated that he does not see any relation. We have cooperated and will continue to cooperate in future, Hahn said.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian for his part recalled that negotiations around the new framework agreement were launched in December 2015. "Six rounds of negotiations have been held since then, which have been quite successful and progress has been registered. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for December. I think that after 2-3 rounds we will finish the negotiations and Armenia will be ready to sign the agreement. Of course, we realize that the EU also needs to reach domestic agreement on the document. We hope that this will not last long and after agreeing the documents the EU will be ready to sign it", the Armenian Minister noted.
At the same time Nalbandian stated that Armenia wants the new agreement to fully reflect the quality and scope of relations with the EU. At the same time the Armenian Minister added that Armenia has repeatedly noted that it is ready to cooperate in all the possible areas, which do not contradict to its obligations in other integration frameworks.
To recall, on October 12, 2015, in Luxembourg, the Council of the European Union authorized the European Commission and the High Representative to open negotiations on a new, legally binding and overarching agreement with Armenia, and adopted the corresponding negotiating mandate. This agreement will replace the current EU- Armenia partnership and cooperation agreement. The EU is committed to further developing and strengthening comprehensive cooperation with Armenia in all areas of mutual interest within the Eastern Partnership framework. On December 7, 2015, at the EU Headquarters in Brussels, Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, and Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, announced the launch of negotiations on a new Armenia-European Union framework agreement. The first round of the talks took place in January 2016. The fifth round was held in October 2016.