The Partnership between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union 

The development of the partnership with the European Union is one of the most important directions of the foreign policy of the Republic of Armenia.

The cooperation with the European Union has greatly contributed to the implementation of reforms in the spheres of justice, public administration, in a number of economic sectors in Armenia, as well as in the establishment of a democratic society and in strengthening institutions responsible for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Since the independence of the Republic of Armenia, the European Union has been one of the largest donors providing financial assistance to the development programs in Armenia.

On 31 July 2020, Ambassador Anna Aghadjanian was appointed as the Head of the Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the EU. On 17 September 2019, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin was appointed as the Head of the EU Delegation in Armenia.

The Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union (CEPA)

The legal basis of the partnership between Armenia and the European Union is the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed on 24 November 2017. The Agreement was provisionally applied since 1 June 2018 and entered into force on 1 March, 2021.

The Agreement created an institutional framework for the partnership. The highest political body, envisaged by the CEPA is the Armenia-EU Partnership Council, which oversees and evaluates the implementation of the Agreement. The other statutory bodies provided for in the Agreement are the Partnership Committee and the Partnership Committee on Trade, as well as the Partnership Subcommittees.

In order to effectively implement the Agreement, the Interagency Commission, tasked with the coordination of the CEPA, developed a roadmap for the implementation of its provisions. It was approved by the decision of the Prime Minister on 1 June 2021 and  consists of more than 300 measures related to various fields, including education, science, health, social protection, infrastructure, economy, environment, etc.

Partnership Council

The sessions of the Partnership Council take place once a year in Brussels. The last (4th) session of the Partnership Council took place on 18 May, 2022.

Partnership Committee

The sessions of the Partnership Committee take place once a year, respectively in Yerevan and Brussels. The last (3rd) session of the Committee took place on 28 April, 2022 in Yerevan.

The last session of the Partnership Committee on Trade took place on 29-30 September, 2022 in Brussels.

Partnership Subcommittees

Sessions of the Partnership Subcommittees are usually held once a year. In particular, in 2022 sessions of the following subcommittees took place:

• the 2^nd session of the Armenia-EU Subcommittee on Customs /15 March, online/.
• the 3^rd session of the Armenia-EU Subcommittee on Geographical Indications /September 26, online/
• the 7^th session of the Armenia-EU Subcommittee on Employment and Social Affairs, Public Health, Training, Education and Youth, Culture, Information Society, Audio-visual policy, Science and Technology ("People-to-People contacts”) /27 September, online/.
• The 12^th session of the Armenia-EU Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security /8 November, in Brussels/.

Visits

To EU

January 2023	Ararat Mirzoyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
August 2022	Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of RA
May 2022	Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of RA
April 2022	Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of RA
December 2021	Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of RA
December 2021	Mher Grigoryan, Deputy Prime Minister of RA
December 2021	Ararat Mirzoyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
November 2021	Ararat Mirzoyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
June 2021	Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of RA
December 2020	Ara Aivazian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
October 2020	Armen Sarkissian, President of RA
March 2020	Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of RA
June 2019	Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
March 2019	Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of RA
December 2018	Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
July 2018	Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of RA
June 2018	Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
February 2018	Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
May 2017	Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
November 2017	Serzh Sargsyan, President of RA
February 2017	Serzh Sargsyan, President of RA
May 2016	Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA
January 2015	Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of RA

To Armenia

July 2021	Charles Michel, President of the European Council
July 2021	Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement
February 2020	Margaritis Schinas, Vice President of the European Commission
July 2019	Donald Tusk, President of the European Council
June 2019	Andrus Ansip, European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission
January 2019	Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations
October 2017	Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations
February 2017	Christian Danielson, Director General of the European Commission for Neighborhood  and Enlargement Negotiations
March 2016	Federica Mogherini, Vice-President of the European Commission, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
July 2015	Donald Tusk, President of the European Council
March 2015	Johannes Hahn, European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations

On 7 July, 2003 the position of the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus was established. In 2008, after the Georgian-Russian war, by the decision of the Council of the European Union, the position of the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus was transformed into the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia. In November, 2017 Toivo Klaar was appointed as the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia. He is the fourth EU official to hold the position. In 2019-2023 he visited Armenia for 22 times, out of which 9 visits were carried out in 2022.

From October 20 to December 19, 2022 by the decision of the EU Council a two-month EU civilian monitoring mission was deployed along the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On January 23 the EU Council adopted a decided to deploy a new EU civilian monitoring mission in Armenia for a period of two years from the beginning of its mandate.

Legal framework between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union

Besides the CEPA, a number of other agreements have been signed with the European Union.  In 2021-2022 the following agreements were signed:

• “The Common Aviation Area Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union”, signed on 15 November, 2021 in Brussels. The process of the ratification of the agreement by Armenia was completed on 11 January, 2023. Up until now, from the EU Member States the agreement was ratified by Estonia, Latvia, Austria and the Czech Republic.

• “Working Arrangement establishing cooperative relations between the law enforcement authorities of the Republic Armenia and the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation”, signed on 16 September, 2021, which entered into force on September 17, 2021.

• “The agreement between Armenia and the EU on the participation of the Republic of Armenia in the “Horizon Europe” Research and Innovation Framework Program”, signed on 12 November, 2021, and entered into force on 10 February, 2022.

• “The agreement on Armenia's accession to the “Creative Europe” program (2021-2027)”, signed on 11 October, 2022, and entered into force on 28 December, 2022.

Migration and Visa Facilitation

“The Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union on the Facilitation of the Issuance of Visas” and “the Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union on the Readmission of Persons Residing without Authorization” were signed on 17 December, 2012 and 19 April, 2013 accordingly. Both agreements entered into force on 1 January 2014. The Armenia-EU Visa Facilitation Committee and the Armenia-EU Readmission Committee were established to monitor the implementation of these Agreements respectively.

The 6^th session of the Armenia-EU Joint Visa Facilitation Committee took place on 28 April, 2021 /online/.

The 8^th session of the Armenia-EU Joint Readmission Committee took place on 14 July, 2022/online/.

Human Rights Dialogue

Since 2009 the annual sessions of the Human Rights Dialogue between Armenia and the European Union have taken place. The sessions usually take place once in a year, in Yerevan and Brussels respectively. The last (12^th) session of the Human Rights Dialogue took place on November 7, 2022, in Brussels.

Political and Security Issues Dialogue

Օn 26 January, 2023 Armenia hosted in Yerevan the inaugural session of the Armenia-EU Political and Security Dialogue .

Eastern Partnership

The format of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) was established in 2009 as a special dimension of the ENP.  aimed at deepening relations between the EU, its member states and the six eastern neighbors: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. In July, 2021 Belarus suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership format.

At the core of the EaP multilateral cooperation are the issues related to the strengthening of the government institutions, economic development, raising of the energy efficiency, mobility, as well as the promotion of the people-to-people contacts and development of other areas.

The dimensions of the EaP multilateral cooperation encompass the Foreign Ministerial and sectoral ministerial meetings, as well as the informal dialogue of the EaP Foreign Ministers. Normally twice a year, the EaP Senior officials meet at the level of the Deputy Foreign Ministers of EaP countries.

From 2019 to 2022 the Ministerial meetings of the Eastern Partnership were held 8 times, including the Visegrad Group and EaP Foreign Ministerial joint meetings.

The EaP Summit is held on the highest level (heads of state and government) normally every two years. The last summit took place on 15 December, 2021 during which the EaP Joint Declaration was adopted.

Parliamentary Cooperation

The cooperation between Armenia and the EU is actively developing also in the parliamentary format, main bilateral platform of which is the Parliamentary Partnership Committee. It consists of Members of the National Assembly of Armenia and the European Parliament (Members of the Delegation for the Relations with the South Caucasus countries).

The annual meetings of the Committee take place respectively in Yerevan, Brussels or Strasbourg. The last meeting of the Armenia-EU Parliamentary Partnership Committee was held on 23-24 February, 2022 in Yerevan.

The parliamentary cooperation platform between the EU and EaP countries is the “Euronest” Parliamentary Assembly (PA). Currently, the “Euronest” PA hosts 60 parliamentarians from the European Parliament and 10 parliamentarians from each EaP country.  It has two co-chairs: one represents the European Parliament, the other one represents the legislative body of one of the EaP countries. 

The Euronest PA has 4 standing committees: 1. on Political Affairs, Human Rights and Democracy, 2. on Economic Integration, Legal Approximation and Convergence with EU Policies, 3. on Energy Security, 4. on Social Affairs, Employment, Education, Culture and Civil Society.

The last meetings of the commissions and Bureau of the “Euronest” PA were held on 21-22 February, 2022 in Yerevan, Armenia and the 10^th ordinary session of the PA took place on 20-21 February 2023 in Chișinău, Moldova.

Trade turnover between the Republic of Armenia and European Union (thousands/ US dollars)

	Export	Import (by exporting country)	Import (by country of origin)
2019	578,667.3	1,117,342.9	1,077,836.5
2020	429,125.7	935,506.5	856,760.1
2021 (January- November)	604,607.0	919,826.6	835,244.4
2022 (January-November)	717,240.6	1 543,117.4	1 305,405.3

 

Updated on 21.02.2023