RA-EU Advisors assistance in the reforms in Armenia positively assessed

14 / 07 / 2010

The European Union Advisory Group provides assistance in the reforms process in different spheres for already 1 year in Armenia. Chairman of the interagency commission coordinating Armenia-EU cooperation, NSC Secretary Artur Baghdasaryan received the Advisors on this occasion.

RA-EU political cooperation includes reforms in some 190 directions. Positively assessing the activities of the group of 18 EU Advisors, Artur Baghdasaryan said they had greatly contributed to the process of implementation of reforms in different spheres. “Wide-scale reforms have been implemented in three directions in all the spheres of state and public administration. We were able to deepen RA-EU political cooperation which led to today’s high-level effective consultations between Armenia and the EU. One of the concrete results of the Advisory Group is the foundation of Diplomatic Academy, which already operates. Serious steps have been taken towards visa-facilitation for Armenian citizens to enter EU Member States. We do believe that all possible efforts should be made in order to simplify visa procedures, and the citizens of Armenia should not face problems while visiting EU Member States. We have the first results already: the citizens with diplomatic or service passports have a permission to visit 9 EM Member States, and negotiations with other EU States are on-going.”
One of the important achievements, Artur Baghdasaryan said, was the preparation for the negotiations on Armenia-EU association agreement, which will lay a serous foundation for the RA-EU political cooperation in the framework of the association agreement.
“A new RA-EU committee on justice, freedom and security issues has been formed with the support of the EU Advisory Group, which convened its first session. This means that we will seriously continue the reforms in the spheres of human rights, fight against corruption, judicial system and justice, where real problems are accumulated. The establishment of the new committee will help achieve serious results in the above-mentioned spheres. With the support of the EU Advisory Group we will finalize the elaboration of the draft of the human rights national program this year which assumes not only legislative but also serious institutional reforms,” Artur Baghdasaryan said.
Significant reforms have been implemented in the customs sphere again with the support of the EU Advisory Group: customs clearance procedures have been simplified, unnecessary paperwork eliminated, much work is done to conclude a free-trade agreement with the EU. The reforms covered agriculture, economy, health and other spheres as well.
The practice of the activities of the EU Advisory Group that was first applied in Armenia and proved successful is intended to introduce in other EU Partner countries, notably in Moldova and Georgia.
Team Leader of the EU Advisory Group Rolf Boehnke thanked Artur Baghdasaryan for his contribution to the activities of the Advisory Group. “We highly appreciate your assistance in our activities. We look forward to our further active cooperation in the future as the same team will be working in Armenia. This means that the experience gained will be best utilized.”
The Advisors presented the work done in different spheres and their further plans.
Artur Baghdasaryan awarded Rolf Boehnke with a Letter of Appreciation for active and efficient efforts of the EU Advisory Group in Armenia.