Statement by the "European Integration" NGO on Signing the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with the EU

• 11.24.2017, 21:50
•  Europe,  World,  Armenia

Today, on November 24, Armenia and the EU signed Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. "European Integration" NGO made a statement on the occasion of signing the Agreement.

The statement reads as follows:

  

 

 

STATEMENT

The Statement of "European Integration" NGO Board on Singing the Comprehensive and
Enhanced Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Armenia, of the other part

 

In the context of the European integration process, "European Integration" NGO:

• Welcomes the signing of the EU-RA Comprehensive and
  Enhanced Partnership Agreement, considering it to be decisive in the RA’s current European integration process,

• Expresses confidence that the Agreement will boost the RA-EU political and economic cooperation contributing to the reforms in economy, justice, public administration spheres, to the well establishment of the civil society, to the strengthening of the institutions defending human rights and basic freedoms,  

• Highlights the balanced stance of the EU, expressed in the Agreement, on the Karabakh conflict resolution,

• Highlights the necessity of open borders through cross-border mobility, neighborly relations and democracy development in the framework of regional cooperation, defined in the Agreement,

• Considers the signing of the Agreement as an important millstone of the “both…and” policy adopted by the RA and a result of high political will demonstrated by both sides,

• Rejects any attempt to contradict the RA integration processes,  

• Expresses confidence that the Agreement will become a powerful impetus for the RA-EU relations realizing the scopes of the sectoral cooperation defined in the Agreement, 

• Hopes that the signing of the Agreement will have its contribution in the RA-EU visa liberalization process,

• States that "European Integration" NGO is committed to continue its active work in the direction of the European integration, strengthening and disseminating democratic values in Armenia, in the well establishment of the civil society also in the framework of the Civil Society Platform, defined in the Agreement.

Based on the above stated, "European Integration" NGO calls on:

The RA authorities

• To organize the ratification of the Agreement by the RA National Assembly in a possible short period,

• To carry out all the steps necessary for quick and efficient implementation of the Agreement,

• To contribute to the quick and efficient implementation of the works of the Partnership Council and Committee, defined in the Agreement,

• To use the Parliamentary Partnership Committee and its powers, defined in the Agreement, to efficiently implement the EU-RA Comprehensive and
  Enhanced Partnership Agreement and to localize the European experience in different spheres of life,

• To contribute to the public awareness-raising on the content of the Agreement cooperating with civil society institutes,

• To contribute to the transparency of the implementation process of the Agreement by engaging the representatives of the civil society institutes, also in the framework of the Civil Society Platform, defined in the Agreement,

• To make the decision-making processes on the issues, directly related to the interests of the state and society, more participatory, predictable and perceptible,

• To activate the processes related to the RA-EU visa liberalization, 

• No to be limited only to the points defined in the Agreement and to demonstrate an initiative in the development of the RA-EU relations further deepening bilateral ties.

The EU leaders and the governments of the member states

• To organize the ratification of the Agreement by the EU states’ parliaments and European Parliament in a possible short period,

• To carry out all the steps necessary for quick and efficient implementation of the Agreement, also ensuring the participation of the representatives of the civil society institutes in the process,

• To contribute to the quick and efficient implementation of the works of the Partnership Council, Partnership Committee and Parliamentary Partnership Committee, defined in the Agreement,

• For ensuring the efficiency of the RA-EU integration processes to make efforts in the direction of opening the Armenian-Turkish border, easing the RA blockade,

• To activate the processes related to the RA-EU visa liberalization, 

The RA and EU civil society institutions

• To contribute to the complete and efficient implementation of the EU-RA Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement,

• To engage in a most active and efficient way in the activities of the Civil Society Platform, defined in the Agreement and to use its opportunities for the interests of the society.