In exercise of the right provided for by the Constitution, an initiative group was formed, which came up with a civil initiative for the draft law. This was stated by the authorized representative of the initiative group Artak Zeynalyan, presenting the draft law on Launching Accession Process of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union for debate at the regular sitting of the National Assembly on February 11. According to the rapporteur, the initiative group collected more than 60 thousand signatures of citizens from 44 enlarged communities of Armenia and the administrative districts of Yerevan in one month. The signatures were checked by the Central Electoral Commission: They were valid. The draft was debated in the NA Standing Committee on European Integration, having been endorsed.
The draft law states that the Republic of Armenia, expressing the will of the people, setting the task of making Armenia a safe, secure, developed and prosperous country, announces the start of the process of Armenia’s accession to the European Union.
Continuing to present the justifications of the draft law, Artak Zeynalyan noted that the objective of adopting the draft law is to affirm the will and determination of the people of Armenia and its current government to join the progressive, civilized, and developed family of humanity.
According to the initiators, the adoption of the draft law will contribute to the establishment of peace and stability in the region by restoring the balance of power, increasing the possibilities of ensuring Armenia’s national security, and bringing the national army into line with the modern standards of the armies of the EU member states.
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According to the initiative group, the adoption of the draft law will also promote the continuous development and protection of human rights, the creation of economic security mechanisms by eliminating the existing monopolies, diversifying the economy, increasing the productivity and quality of goods and services, which is possible only by cooperating with the West and the EU, ensuring access to investments and technologies, restarting industry, changing the structure of the economy and increasing the share of the real sector, creating new logistical connections, making the Armenian products competitive in the European market.
The MPs asked the rapporteur questions related to expectations in case of the EU membership, the compliance of various products produced in our country with EU standards, the elimination of monopolies, the development of the RA-EU communications, the protection of human rights, the change in transport tariffs in Yerevan, the issue of Armenia’s exit from the EAEU, etc.
The Chair of the Standing Committee on European Integration Arman Yeghoyan, presenting a brief history of the bill and the motivation for the initiative, he informed that the Committee organized two parliamentary hearings on the topic under debate last year. It was noted that the Committee, as well as the Government, endorsed the draft. Touching upon some of the substantive components, Arman Yeghoyan introduced the successive stages that Armenia needs to go through for the EU membership.
The Committee Chair answered the MPs’ questions, referring to the economic cooperation and trade turnover.
The RA Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan noted that the draft under debate is in line with the dynamics of deepening cooperation between Armenia and the EU and the EU member states in recent years, as well as the European aspirations of Armenian citizens.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs underscored that Armenia attaches great importance to the effective implementation of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement.
“S ince 2022 the EU Civilian Observation Mission has been deployed in Armenia, and it has repeatedly proven that it is one of the pillars of stability in the region,” Paruyr Hovhannisyan said, informing that the EU Council recently made a decision to extend the term of the mission in Armenia for another two years.
The debate of the issue was interrupted at the phase of the speeches.
It will continue at the NA regular sitting on February 12.
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