YEREVAN, MARCH 22, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government approved the bill on ratifying the ‘Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Armenia, on the one hand, and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, on the other hand’, reports Armenpress.

Deputy foreign minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said this new framework agreement is important in a sense that it raises the Armenia-EU bilateral ties to a new partnership level and aims at regulating them in the upcoming years. It is more comprehensive and has been made in accordance with the essence and depth of the bilateral relations.

“The agreement complies with Armenia’s commitments assumed in other integration formats. The agreement will come into force when the last EU state notifies that it completed the inner-state procedures. As of now only Estonia completed these procedures. As for the separate provisions of the agreement the EU has completed the inner-state procedures, it will be possible to implement when Armenia as well completes the inner-state procedures. In this case it would be possible to start implementing that part of the agreement which can be applied before the agreement finally comes into force”, the deputy FM noted.

As a result of the adoption of the law the procedures envisaged for the November 24, 2017 agreement’s coming into force will be ensured.

“The agreement regulates the Armenia-EU dialogue in economic and political fields, sectoral cooperation and commercial relations. It highlights and promotes continuation of political and economic reforms. The agreement offers a qualitatively more thorough sectoral partnership planning a respective approach closer to the EU standards with several directions”, stated in the foreign ministry’s conclusion.

English – translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan