Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Tigran Sargsyan: Reforms to be reinvigorated with EU support
On the second day of his trip to the Kingdom of Belgium, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met with President of Belgian Parliament Peters Dani. During the meeting, possibilities for the furtherance of Armenian-Belgian ties and partnership prospects were discussed.
Note that as early as on March 16, 1998, the Belgian Senate adopted a resolution which evoking the multitude of studies on Turkey’s Armenian population of early 20th century, as well as the UN convention on prevention and condemnation of the crime of genocide, and the June 18, 1987 resolution of the European Parliament, called on Turkey to recognize the fact of genocide.
The resolution stated that facing history might promote reconciliation between peoples. Tabled by the totality of political factions, the resolution was adopted with 48 for and 9 abstained.
During the briefing that followed the meeting, Tigran Sargsyan referred to the question of shaping an economic reform-conducive legal framework by informing that tax and customs reforms had been central on the agenda of all discussions held with the European Commission. “We expect to get technical assistance from the European Union. The matter was taken up at our yesterday’s meeting Mr. Barroso. All those concerned were told to discuss the proposals formulated at the meeting so that we could boost the reform process,” the head of government said.
The easing of visa requirements, the association agreement and the signing of a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement were among the items discussed with EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule.
Tigran Sargsyan briefed Mr. Fule on Armenia’s economic position. Stefan Fule assured of the European Union’s readiness to provide expertise for the upcoming talks on the free trade agreement. According to him, a panel had to be set up to deal with the preparation of negotiations.
The head of the Armenian government said our country was firmly determined to undertake all the necessary steps to that effect. Both sides expressed hope that the preparations would be completed by yearend to usher in the launch of the talks on the deep and comprehensive trade agreement.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan had a working dinner with EC Director-General for Trade Jean-Luc de Marty at which details of economic cooperation were discussed.
