Thursday, December 15 2016 19:32

ArmInfo. At a briefing in Brussels on 14 December, both sides expressed satisfaction at progress in the negotiations, but hinted that they were in uncharted waters, Commonspace.eu reports. 

Dirk Schuebel, a senior official at the European External Action  Service, the First Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia, Garegin  Melkonyan, and Petros Sourmelis, from the EU Directorate for Trade,  participated in the press conference. 

"They were very constructive rounds", said Schuebel, adding that the  EU was "pleased at how the discussions were going". His colleague  from DG Trade was equally positive "We have made a lot of progress",  he said. These views were echoed by Deputy Minister Melkonyan. "Our  assessment is very much positive", he said. "Armenia has to look left  and right at the same time" said Dirk Schuebel. All aspects of the  negotiations now have to take into account the fact that Armenia is  now a member of the Russia led Eurasia Economic Union. However  Schuebel was surprised that Armenia was ready to incorporate into the  new agreement a lot of what had already been negotiated in the lead  up to the now defunct Association Agreement. Deputy Minister  Melkonyan put it more delicately, "We are negotiating, taking into  account Armenia's other international obligations", he said. "Being  part of the Eurasian Union does not mean not having relations with  other partners", emphasizing that his approach in the negotiations  was that development was possible only through co-operation.

"It was not an easy time", said Dirk Schuebel, pointing at Armenia's  abrupt decision in September 2013 not to sign an Association  Agreement with the EU that the two sides had spent years  painstakingly negotiating.  According to the source, Melkonyan said  that the new agreement will open a new era in relations between the  EU and Armenia., whilst Schuebel said that in a way this was a "pilot  project" - an example of how we can apply the principle of  differentiation envisaged in the new Eastern Partnership policy.

One important aspect discussed at the briefing was how it will relate  to Nagorno-Karabakh. "This is a bilateral agreement between the EU  and the Republic of Armenia as it is recognised within its  internationally recognised borders", said Schuebel emphatically. The  EEAS official added that any reference to Nagorno-Karabakh in the  agreement will have to be through "a notion that is mutually  acceptable". "We hope it will contribute to peace in the region", he  added.

In essence, the new agreement will be "more substantial" than the  current Partnership and Co- operation Agreement that was signed in  the 1990s, but will still fall short of the Association Agreement and  DCFTA that Armenia ditched in 2013, the expert thinks. The agreement  will cover areas such as basic freedoms, political and social  development, and co-operation in areas such as freedom, justice and  security. Civil society will be recognised as an important partner in  taking the agreement forward. Apart from this it will cover  substantial areas in trade and investment issues.  Beyond the  positive messages, at Wednesday briefing in Brussels one could detect  that both sides understood they were in uncharted waters, the expert  writes. 

To recall, on October 12, 2015, in Luxembourg, the Council authorized  the European Commission and the High Representative to open  negotiations on a new, legally binding and overarching agreement with  Armenia, and adopted the corresponding negotiating mandate. This  agreement will replace the current EU-Armenia partnership and  cooperation agreement.   The EU is committed to further develop and  strengthen comprehensive cooperation with Armenia in all areas of  mutual interest within the Eastern Partnership framework. On December  7, 2015, at the EU Headquarters in Brussels, Edward Nalbandian,  Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Federica Mogherini, High  Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security  Policy, Vice- President of the Commission, announced the launch of  negotiations on a new Armenia-European Union framework agreement.   The first round of the talks was held in Brussels on Feb 16.