EU bill vote postponed

The discussion of the EU bill was postponed on Monday during the parliamentary committee hearing. 

It will be debated in the coming days in order to be included in the agenda of the next plenary session or extraordinary session, but not this week’s session.

The Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on EU Integration Affairs, MP Arman Yeghoyan said that a lengthy discussion took place regarding legal technique. “But since the discussion took longer than the deadline envisaged by law for including this bill in the agenda of the current four-day sitting, I propose to postpone the discussion of the bill in the voting phase and discuss it again to consider it for the next four-day sitting or an extraordinary session,” Yeghoyan said, adding that the lawmakers wouldn’t manage to submit the bill for the current agenda because they had to do so by 12:00.

The next discussion in the committee could take place in a few days.

The Cabinet had proposed several amendments to the bill, particularly the removal of the preamble. 

On February 12, the EU bill passed with 63 votes in favor and 7 against at first reading in parliament. 

It was initiated by several civic organizations through a petition which garnered enough votes to be considered as a bill. It calls on the Armenian authorities to launch the process of EU accession.