ArmInfo.On January 18, the 8th round of the negotiations between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union over the new framework agreement took place in Yerevan.
The press office of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reports that the Armenian and EU delegations were headed by Garen Nazarian, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, and Luc Devigne, the Director of Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, OSCE and Regional Cooperation of the European External Action Service, respectively.
The delegations discussed the political issues of the agreement, as well as the provisions of the general, institutional and final chapters. The sides gained understanding on a number of issues. When summing up the results, the sides exchanged information on the talks on sectoral and trade issues and specified the date of the next round of the talks in Brussels.
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 in Jan 2016. In late 2016 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian expressed hope that the talks on the new framework agreement would shortly be completed.