Thursday, March 22 2018 13:34

ArmInfo.On March 22, the Armenian government approved a bill on ratification of the signed on November 24, 2017 between the Republic of Armenia, on the one hand, and the European Union and the European Community of Atomic Energy (Euratom),  on the other, the Agreement on Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership.

As Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharian stated,  presenting the document, the new framework agreement is important  because it raises Armenia-EU bilateral relations to a new, partner  level and is called upon to regulate them within the coming years.  This agreement is more extensive, and brought into line with the  essence and depth of bilateral relations.

The provisions of the agreement, as the Deputy Foreign Minister  noted, are in line with the commitments made by Armenia in the  framework of other integration formats. "The comprehensive and  expanded partnership agreement that Armenia signed with the EU in  November 2017 will fully enter into force after the last EU state has  informed of the completion of the internal procedures." So far, only  Estonia has completed all ratification procedures, "Kocharian said.   At the same time, as the deputy minister pointed out, Armenia  received EU notifications that for the temporary application of  certain provisions of the Agreement, the European side completed the  internal procedures without waiting for final ratification. "However,  for this it is necessary for Armenia to complete the ratification  procedure," Kocharyan explained.

Recall that on March 19 this year. head of the permanent  parliamentary commission for foreign affairs Armen Ashotyan said that  the agreement between Armenia and the EU is likely to be ratified by  Armenia during the next four-day sittings in Parliament. "During the  next meeting in the Parliament we will deal with this issue, I can  not exactly name the terms, but I assure you that the Agreement will  be ratified in April," Ashotyan said. Earlier, the deputy head of the  European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighborhood Policy and  Negotiations on Expansion (DG NEAR) Katarina Maternova said she sees  no serious obstacles to ratifying the Agreement on Comprehensive and  Enhanced Partnership between the European Union and Armenia. 

"I do not know whether the agreement will be ratified this year, but  I do not see any serious obstacles," she said. According to the  representative of the European Commission, ratification will not  become difficult, as was the case with Ukraine. "Then there was a  referendum in the Netherlands, which slowed down this process, and it  was a much deeper agreement," explained Katerina Maternova.  On  November 24, Armenia signed the Agreement on Comprehensive and  Enhanced Partnership with the EU on the sidelines of the Eastern  Partnership Summit in Brussels. The agreement will come into force  after ratification by the parliaments of Armenia and 28 EU member  states. The accent in the extensive 357- page document is put on the  affirmation of justice, freedom, security in Armenia; reforming the  Constitution and the judiciary; observance of human rights and  fundamental freedoms, etc. And all this with the active participation  of the European Union in financing various projects in Armenia.