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EU/ARMENIA : TRADE TALKS CONCLUDED WITH YEREVAN
Europolitics Monthly (English)
September 25, 2013
by Lenaïc Vaudin d?Imecourt
The European Union and Armenia have wrapped up negotiations over a
deep and comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA), the European Commission
announced, on 24 July, only one year after the official launch of the
talks. The trade deal will be finalised upon signature of a larger
bilateral association agreement, which is expected to be initialled
at the 28-29 November Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Negotiators, meeting in Yerevan on 24 July for the seventh round of
talks, reached an agreement on the key elements of a deal, which will
create a new framework for trade relations between the EU and Armenia,
the Commission explained. The EU executive expects that the DCFTA will
offer Armenia "a framework for modernising its trade relations and
for economic development on the basis of far-reaching harmonisation
of laws and regulations in various trade-related areas".
The EU is currently Armenia's main trading partner and Armenia benefits
from preferential trade access under the EU's Generalised Scheme of
Preferences (GSP), which grants duty-free and quota-free access to
the European market. In 2012, flows of bilateral trade in goods were
worth around EUR950 million.
With the entry into force of the DCFTA, national income gains are
estimated at EUR74 million for the EU and EUR146 million for Armenia,
a July impact assessment commissioned by DG Trade shows. Armenia's
exports are expected to increase by 15.2% and its imports by 8.2%. In
terms of economic gain, this would represent a 2.3% increase in
Armenia's GDP. However, the economic gains for the EU are negligible
in percentage terms.
The Commission will now report to the 28 member states on the
negotiated DCFTA text before it can be finalised as part of the
association agreement.
From: Baghdasarian
Europolitics Monthly (English)
September 25, 2013
by Lenaïc Vaudin d?Imecourt
The European Union and Armenia have wrapped up negotiations over a
deep and comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA), the European Commission
announced, on 24 July, only one year after the official launch of the
talks. The trade deal will be finalised upon signature of a larger
bilateral association agreement, which is expected to be initialled
at the 28-29 November Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Negotiators, meeting in Yerevan on 24 July for the seventh round of
talks, reached an agreement on the key elements of a deal, which will
create a new framework for trade relations between the EU and Armenia,
the Commission explained. The EU executive expects that the DCFTA will
offer Armenia "a framework for modernising its trade relations and
for economic development on the basis of far-reaching harmonisation
of laws and regulations in various trade-related areas".
The EU is currently Armenia's main trading partner and Armenia benefits
from preferential trade access under the EU's Generalised Scheme of
Preferences (GSP), which grants duty-free and quota-free access to
the European market. In 2012, flows of bilateral trade in goods were
worth around EUR950 million.
With the entry into force of the DCFTA, national income gains are
estimated at EUR74 million for the EU and EUR146 million for Armenia,
a July impact assessment commissioned by DG Trade shows. Armenia's
exports are expected to increase by 15.2% and its imports by 8.2%. In
terms of economic gain, this would represent a 2.3% increase in
Armenia's GDP. However, the economic gains for the EU are negligible
in percentage terms.
The Commission will now report to the 28 member states on the
negotiated DCFTA text before it can be finalised as part of the
association agreement.
From: Baghdasarian