Saturday, September 7 2013

Mr. Hristea, Armenia
and the EU are expected to sign an Association Agreement at the Eastern
Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November 2013. What will be the
next step of the Armenia-EU cooperation? 

The EU and Armenia
are expected to initial the
Association Agreement at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November 2013. Please note this is
not the same as signature. Initialling is a technical step that confirms the
agreement of both sides on substance.

To sign the Agreement, several procedural steps are
necessary, among them translation of the text in all the EU languages, and the
Council has to authorise the signature for the EU. This is an ambitious
agreement, it is therefore legally complex and the EU is now a Union of 28 member states. Procedures do take time for
all these reasons.

The EU hopes to provisionally apply parts of the
Agreement (especially the trade part) as soon as possible after the signing, before
full ratification procedures are completed. We want Armenia to benefit from the
agreement as soon as possible.

What projects is the European Union currently
implementing in Armenia
and how effective are they?

Within
the framework of the Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI), the
2011-2013 National Indicative Programme (NIP) put €157 million at the disposal
of Armenia to conduct a number of reforms in 3 main areas: Democratic
structures and good governance; Trade, investment and regulatory alignment;
Socio-economic reform and sustainable development.

In
partnership with the Government as well as civil society, a number of EU-funded
projects are being implemented or have been recently implemented in the
following main areas:

1. Trade and DCFTA (Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area):

-
The EU Advisory Group has successfully supported the DCFTA negotiating team on
the Armenian side which resulted in the negotiations to be successfully
concluded in a record time;

-
Three successive Budget Support programmes in support of DCFTA policy areas for
a total amount of €69 million have started;

-
The Comprehensive
Institution Building
(CIB) programme (€33 million) is supporting a number of Armenian public
institutions through technical assistance and Twinning projects in the areas of
Competition, Customs, Food safety, Consumer protection and Intellectual
Property Rights. These projects have brought forward approximation to EU
standards as well as institution building's best practices.

2. Justice:

A
first phase of support to Justice Reforms (€20 million in Budget Support) has
been successfully completed with the following results: adoption of a Justice
Reform Strategy 2012-2016, improvements in the areas of independence of justice
and corruption, access to justice, advocacy and educational institutions (e.g.
School of Advocates and Justice School) as well as financial support to
building and renovation of court buildings (also supported by the World Bank).

A
second Budget Support programme (€29 million) is being discussed with the
Government at the moment with the specific aim to address the independence of
judges, to increase the quality of services to the general public as well as to
introduce alternative punishment systems (in cooperation with the Council of
Europe) and improvement of detention conditions.

3. Elections:

-
A project in support of elections in Armenia in 2012 and 2013 started in
February 2012 to improve the technical and professional capacities of election
commissions, improve voter’s lists, build capacity among civil society for
professional domestic observation as well as raise awareness of electoral
rights and procedures. The project is implemented by OSCE and a number of civil
society organisations through a contribution agreement. A project in support of
women's active participation in local elections started in April 2012,
implemented by UNDP to encourage women's meaningful participation in decision
making and engage in a constructive dialogue on gender with media and civil
society.

4. Vocational Education Training (VET):

Our
ongoing sector budget support programme (€15 million) is achieving good
results. The support is now based on the Government’s “VET Reforms Programme
and Action Plan 2012-2015”
aiming to align the Armenian VET system with the European professional
standards, increase the efficiency of the VET system, and further develop
social partnership in VET. Furthermore, the adoption of the National Employment
Strategy for 2013-2018, supported by the EU, clearly sets the direction for
linking the results of the VET reforms to the changing requirements of the
labour market.

5. Support to civil society and media:

-
Two programmes for almost €3 million in support to civil society are being
launched ("Civil Society Facility" and "Support to good
governance and media"). They aim at strengthening the capacity of Civil
Society to intervene in policy formulation by better engaging in policy
dialogue with the government, public institutions and bodies. They also aim at
improving professionalism of media outlets towards establishment of free and
pluralistic media, as an instrument of achieving good governance outcomes.

6. Infrastructure projects with the support of the Neighbourhood
Investment Fund (NIF), EIB and EBRD:

-
Several ongoing projects include Metro Rehabilitation Project Phase I and Phase
II with two NIF grants of €5 million, Armenian Small Municipalities Water
Project with €7 million NIF grant, Kotayk Solid Waste Management, which has
been put on hold in anticipation of the solid waste management strategy,
Modernization of Bagratashen, Bavra and Gogavan Border Crossing Points (MBBG)
with a grant of €12 million, North-South Corridor with another grant of €12
million, and Yerevan Water with €5.5 million.

In its annual report for 2012, the European Union
stressed the need to decommission the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant. What
alternative to decommissioning of the nuclear plant could the EU offer to Armenia? 

The EU continues to request the earliest possible
closure of Medzamor nuclear power plant (NPP), as it cannot be upgraded to meet
internationally recognised nuclear safety standards. It is a matter of concern
that Armenia
has not yet drawn up a detailed decommissioning plan for Medzamor. Following
the Fukushima nuclear accident, Armenia
undertook with the EU a comprehensive risk and safety assessment (‘nuclear
stress test’) of the plant, the report of which will have to be submitted soon.

The EU offers to Armenia support along with other
development partners to the development of alternative and renewable energy and
improve energy efficiency, notably through Programme such as INOGATE or other
major projects funded by the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF).

How effective are the on-going reforms in the system
of justice in Armenia?
What flaws could you point at?

The
Government of Armenia initiated a large-scale reform in the sphere of justice
that already resulted in some improvements, particularly improvement of the
implementation of court orders, ensuring transparency of transactions by
implementing a comprehensive statistical system, providing a better service to
the population and improve access to the justice system.

Nonetheless,
there is still substantial work to be done to restore the trust of the
population towards the courts and judges and the European Union is currently
discussing with the Government and civil society a new Budget Support programme
to further support progress in this sector in order to improve the situation
(particularly if we look to indexes such as Transparency International’s
Corruption Perceptions Index for Armenia), and address other concerns such as
those related to the independence of judges, as evidenced by an EU – Council of
Europe analysis of judicial reforms in Eastern Partnership countries (see http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/cooperation/capacitybuilding/source/judic_reform/Project_report_final.pdf ),
strict application of the law and court rulings or detention conditions in
prisons. In this respect capacity of law enforcement bodies need to be
developed.

The
European Union will therefore support the Government in the following priority
actions:

-
Introduction and implementation of clear-cut judicial independence and
anti-corruption programmes;

-
Efficiency and accessibility of the justice sector by improving cooperation
between all the stakeholders, by setting up proper training for advocates,
judges and prosecutors and by increasing the quality of the judicial process in
the first instance courts;

-
Revision of the Criminal Code and promotion of alternative punishment systems
to decrease the level of incarcerated persons in line with international
standards; improving detention conditions;

-
Increasing the quality of services to the public and businesses in the areas of
arbitration, notarisation and civil registration;

Nowadays Armenia is
often urged to choose between the Eurasian Union
and the European Union. Do you think Armenia can participate in the two
integration projects simultaneously? If not, then what do you think might
hinder it?  

In general, there is no conflict between increasing
links with the EU and links with the Russian
Federation and organisations in which the Russia plays an
important role. Armenia
can freely participate in the CIS multilateral free trade agreement and at the
same time to conclude negotiations on the Association Agreement with the EU.

At the same time, we have to make a distinction
between Free trade agreements and a Customs Union. Within any Customs Union, a
country surrenders its sovereignty over its trade policy, including the
management of its import duties, and other elements, such as regulatory
framework.

We have said on numerous occasions that the DCFTA does
not preclude Armenia to
develop its economic relations with any other third party and we understand the
importance of other markets than the EU for Armenia’s trade. There is nothing
wrong in seeking an establishment of close trade and economic relations between
Armenia
and the Customs Union.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly expressed its desire to
change the format of the OSCE Minsk Group, which, it says, has run its course.
What do you think of this initiative? Is the European Union ready to become a
mediator in the Karabakh peace process? 

The European Union is not party to the official
mediation efforts on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The EU supports the OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chairs, namely France,
Russia and the USA in their
efforts to help the parties find a solution.

In support of efforts towards peace, the EU conducts
regular political dialogue with both partner countries, and has also appointed
the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus
and the crisis in Georgia, Ambassador Phillipe Lefort.

The EU stands ready to provide enhanced support for
confidence building measures, in support of and in full complementarity with
the Minsk Group, with a view to facilitating further steps towards the
implementation of peace