The beginning of a new round of negotiations between Armenia and the European Union in search of a formal agreement indicates that there is largely unfinished business between the two parties involved, Gunter Walzenbach, a senior lecturer at the University of the West of England, Bristol, told in an interview with Armenian News – NEWS.am correspondent.
Responding to the question on why the EU still needs Armenia, he said that “after a time of soul searching and internal reflection, the EU is now better prepared to develop a contractual frame for continuing collaboration”.
“EU has the clear ambition to put earlier declarations of intention into practice and to come to terms with Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). While future trade relations will be governed predominantly by WTO rules, these in no way preclude further cooperation in a vast range of other policy areas already addressed and initially approached within the Eastern Partnership,” the expert said.
According to him, the EU has an overriding interest in the regional stability, security and prosperity of the Southern Caucasus, but is now more willing to take on board specific expectations from the Armenian side to ensure a sustainable engagement and compatibility with other regional integration schemes.
“Some of the buzzwords that populate the recent EU documents on the neighbourhood policy are telling in this respect: differentiation, focus, flexibility, ownership and visibility. It remains to be seen though how these good intentions play out in the notoriously difficult terrain of EU-Armenia relations and in areas as diverse as visa facilitation, nuclear safety standards and anti-corruption policy,” Gunter Walzenbach said.
Yet, according to him, negotiators on both sides are well advised to include even more challenging problems of Armenian society in their deliberations: the establishment of a parliamentary system, a lasting peace deal on Nagorno-Karabakh and effective poverty reduction strategies should rank equally high on their agenda.
“It is in these issue-areas where the EU may achieve most in terms of reputational gain when showing real actorness and policy impact on the ground,” he concluded.
The beginning of talks between Armenia and EU on signing a new legal agreement considering Armenia’s responsibilities in the framework of the Eurasian Union (EEU) is scheduled for December.
