YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today participated in the session of the inter-agency commission coordinating the actions for the implementation of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and the Armenia-EU Partnership Priorities document, the government told Armenpress.

Pashinyan delivered remarks at the session which runs as follows:

“Dear members of the Commission,

The signing of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the European Union was an important step for further deepening the Armenia-EU ties and supporting the continuation of reforms in Armenia. The implementation of the agreement itself is a platform for making reforms which are in accordance with the government’s program and the agenda of reforms being implemented by the government.

I know that currently the main problem of the Commission is the coordination of the development process of the road map, and for this purpose the Commission has discussed actions in different fields in recent months, including the fields of trade, transport, energy and nature protection. I know that the road map of the implementation of the CEPA’s provisions which entered into force temporarily have been provided to the European side. I ask you to continue the works to agree with the European side upon the actions included in this road map.

The Commission Chairman, acting deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan regularly reports me on the activities of the Commission and its results.

I urge you to work more actively towards the CEPA implementation processes as we are entering into a development and implementation stage of more intensive and enlarged programs.

I wish you good luck in the discussions of today’s agenda issues, and I will regularly attend the Commission’s works and will follow the process by highlighting the ongoing activities with the EU”.

Before the discussion of the agenda issues, acting deputy PM Mher Grigoryan stated: “Dear colleagues, I assure you that the CEPA agenda is the agenda of Armenia’s acting PM, and no matter with what staff and intensity we are working on this path, please take into account that we regularly report him on the process of works, and in fact Mr. Pashinyan’s perception is that this is first of all the agenda of our reforms”.

Armenia and the European Union signed the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Brussels on November 24, 2017. The Agreement has partially come into force from June 1, 2018. At the moment nearly 80% of its provisions are operating. The remaining provisions will enter into force after the ratification process of the Agreement by the Parliaments of the EU states is completed. As of now 8 out of 28 EU member states have ratified the Agreement: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Luxembourg and Denmark.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan