Brussels, 11/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 10 July, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle announced that the association agreement with Armenia could be initialled at the Eastern Partnership summit in Lithuania at the end of November, stating on the social network Twitter that Armenia is on the right track for initialling the agreement in Vilnius.
In a speech given at Erevan, Füle said: “We are very close to finalising our association agreement, including a deep and comprehensive free trade area”. He stated that once negotiations are terminated, the definitive agreement can be prepared and thus “it will open a new chapter not only in European Union-Armenia relations, but also in Armenia's own development”.
EU calls for reforms to be continued. Füle called on Armenia to continue its reforms. He highlighted the reform of governance and the strengthening of central institutions. Füle spoke of the measures for reforming the application of the law and justice - the independence of the judiciary, improvement in the training of judges, and revision of the criminal procedure code. The EU also wants the fight against corruption to be stepped up because this is a cross-cutting issue with an impact on every aspect of national development, Füle stated. Armenia should also continue its work on implementing the OSCE recommendations after the recent elections - including amendments to the legislative framework, the effective implementation of the national strategy on human rights, the alignment of legislation with the EU acquis communautaire in terms of gender equality and non-discrimination, and also the modernisation of legislation on broadcasting.
Füle also urged Armenia again to redouble its efforts with Azerbaijan so as to reach an agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh. (CG/transl.fl)