Menu
Latest
Menu
Latest
Armenia-EU free trade negotiations launched

Armenia-EU free trade negotiations launched

21 February 2012

Armenia-EU free trade negotiations launched

The EU decided to launch negotiations on a deep and comprehensive free trade area with Armenia in order to boost economic growth and investment with this Eastern European Partner. The negotiations will cover matters that have become crucial to a modern, transparent and predictable trade and investment environment. They will not only tackle market access conditions but also focus on regulatory approximation, which will help to achieve a closer economic integration of Armenia with the EU, the European Neighbourhood Policy Information Center reports.

"The opening of free trade negotiations mark a turning point in our trade relations with Armenia. We are entering a new phase that will bring our economic ties to a new level of depth and ambition", said
EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.  "The EU is Armenia's first trading partner and a deep and comprehensive free trade area will give Armenia a more favourable access to the European Single Market thereby helping to boost economic growth in the country."

Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule stated: "This is a further sign of the strengthening of our political and economic ties. Launching DCFTA negotiations is one more step towards closer economic integration which is one of the cornerstones of our relations with countries of Eastern Partnership."

The free trade area will be part of the broader Association Agreement which has been negotiated with Armenia since July 2010, in the framework of the Eastern Partnership and the European Neighbourhood Policy.

The source reports that the bilateral trade relations reached 960 million EUR in 2011. The tow parties are currently preparing for the first round of negotiations to be launched shortly.

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
International Election Observation Mission finds that Armenians were offered a genuine choice against a backdrop of direct foreign pressure and uneven campaign opportunities
Trending

International Election Observation Mission finds that Armenians were offered a genuine choice against a backdrop of direct foreign pressure and uneven campaign opportunities

8 June 2026
Farah Karimi, Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission, said that: “The concentration of arrests and criminal prosecutions against opposition figures contributed to perceptions of selective justice, while a polarized media landscape, inflammatory rhetoric, misinformation, and persistent foreign pressure and interference challenged Armenia’s democratic resilience and the integrity of public debate. This underscores the importance of continued efforts to strengthen democratic institutions, safeguard fundamental freedoms, and foster public trust in democratic processes. ” Damien Cottier, Head of the delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, argued that “The Armenian elections took place in a particularly tense geopolitical context, with direct foreign interference. In particular, pressure and threats from Russian authorities reached an unprecedented and worrying level.” Janez Lenarčič, head of the election observation mission from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, stated that “Armenia’s voters were given – and took – the opportunity to make a genuine choice in a professionally managed election process and a vibrant and pluralistic, if often highly polarized campaign. “Unfortunately, they had to make that choice against the backdrop of unprecedented foreign interference and pressure, in the form of punitive trade measures and day-by-day threats of further negative consequences contingent on which choice they made”. == click image to read full report

Popular

Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov
Trending

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

15 January 2026
Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)
Murad Muradov
Lauri Nikulainen interviews Murad Muradov