EU TO FUND ‘INSTITUTIONAL REFORM’ IN ARMENIA
Hovannes Shoghikian
Armenialiberty.org
Sept 15 2009
Armenia – Serzh Sarkisian, President of Armenia, and Angela Merkel,
Chancellor of Germany, at the EU Eastern Partnership Summit,
Prague,07May2009
The European Union will provide Armenia with 33 million euros ($48
million) in technical assistance aimed at helping it qualify for
association and free trade agreements with the bloc, EU officials
said on Tuesday.
The agreements, which Yerevan hopes to seal in the next few years,
stem from the country’s inclusion in the EU’s Eastern Partnership
program. It offers six former Soviet republics, including all three
South Caucasus states, much closer integration with the 27-nation
bloc in return for political and economic reforms.
Senior officials from the EU’s executive European Commission presented
more details of the scheme, formally launched in May, at the start
of a two-day workshop in Yerevan attended by Armenian government
officials and civil society representatives. John Kjaer, head of a
Commission unit overseeing the Eastern Partnership, told participants
that Armenia will receive the assistance in 2011-2013 to engage in
"comprehensive institution building" which he said is necessary for
the success of the planned free talks.
"It is exactly designed to help you to prepare for negotiations
and negotiate association agreements and implement [free trade
agreements,]" Kjaer said. "We want it to be focused on core
institutions.
"On the other hand, we want it to be comprehensive. That means
addressing all the obstacles that these institutions are facing in
their endeavors."
"Before the end of the year, we will, in close contact with government
counterparts, define the target institutions in what we call a
framework document," continued Kjaer. "We will basically identify
the institutions which will benefit from the assistance." A team of
EU experts will then help the Armenian government determine by next
June just how the European Commission should help them, he said.
Armenian and EU officials already discussed in February preparations
for the launch of official negotiations on a free trade deal. The
European Commission’s Directorate General for Trade said ahead of
those consultations that Armenia should not only bring its laws into
greater conformity with EU standards but also ensure their "proper
implementation and enforcement."
Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsian, who was also present at the
workshop, said the Armenian government is committed to accomplishing
that "as soon as possible" and therefore thinks that the free trade
talks could be completed within three years. But he noted that EU
officials are less optimistic on that score.
"Experts tell us that the process could take five years or longer,"
Yeritsian told journalists. "But we’ll see. It all depends on the
formulation of our objectives."
Armenia is already enjoying a preferential trading regime with
EU countries, having been included last December in the bloc’s new
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP+). Developing countries covered
by the scheme, effective from January 2009 through the end of 2011, are
entitled to selling about 6,400 items in EU markets with significant
import duty discounts.
Despite that, Armenian exports to the EU, tumbled by 59 percent to
$123.4 million in the first half of this year amid a deepening fallout
from the global financial crisis. The sharp fall was a key reason why
Russia and other CIS countries overtook the EU as Armenia’s number
one trading partner during that period.
Kjaer insisted that Armenia’s democratization is also essential for the
signing of the far-reaching agreements with the EU. "What is important
to know is that we do require, in order to start negotiations on an
association agreement, that there is what we call sufficient level
of progress in terms of values which exactly are underpinning our
relationship with the countries," he said. "Namely, democracy, the
rule of law and human rights."
But the Brussels-based official did not specify whether conduct of
elections deemed free and fair by the international community is
a necessary condition for the country’s successful participation
in the Eastern Partnership. Unlike the United States, the EU did
not criticize the Armenian authorities’ handling of the disputed
presidential election of February 2008. Nor did it condemn the
post-election crackdown on the Armenian opposition that involved use
of lethal force and mass arrests.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
