YEREVAN, November 6 (Itar-Tass) - The government of the Republic of Armenia and the Eurasian Economic Commission (EAEC) will sign a memorandum on stepping up cooperation.
"The purpose of the document, which is to be signed by the Prime Minister of the Republic, Tigran Sarkisyan, and Viktor Khristenko, Chairman of the EAEC Board, is to deepen and enhance interaction between the EAEC and Armenia," a Board source said.
"Armenia will be given an opportunity to be present at open-access sessions of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission, and meetings of th EAEC Board. The Repulic will also be granted the right to determine its representative at the EAEC, vested with the necessary powers," the Board source pointed out.
The decision to sign such a memorandum was made by the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia in Minsk on October 24 at a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.
On September 3, at the close of talks in Moscow, Armenian President Serge Sargsyan stated that he "reaffirmed Armenia's desire to accede to the Customs Union (CU) and join in the process of forming a Eurasian Economic Union". On September 19, the government of Armenia launched preparation for accession to the CU, approving at a regular meeting of the Cabinet a time-table of priority activities.A coordinating commission and sectoral working groups on preparation for accession have been formed and are at work, said Karine Minasyan, the country's First Deputy Minister of Economics.
The commission has already carried out an inventorying of CU current document which are essential for accession, on the one hand, and legal field and Armenia's international treaties in various fields, on the other. Questions which maty arise during accession to the CU are being studied, with due regard for the Republic's obligations to the World Trade Organization.
The next stage will be to compare the legal fields of Armenia and the CU. This, Minasyan pointed out, will make it possible to differentiate between norms which are 'acceptable to Armenia right away', norms the adoption of which will require a certain time, and, finally, norms which are subject to fixing with the CU through talks. In particular, it will be needed to take bearings on tariffs, other taxes and dues which will take effect following the country's accession to the CU.
Immediately folloiwng Sargsyan's statements about the intention to join the CU, Brussels-based sources said the EU was "awaiting elucidations from the Armenian side" in order to estimate the consequences of such a move to Yerevan in view of the fact that a summit meeting of the EU leadership and the leaders of the countries that are parties to the EU's Eastern Partnership programme will be held in Vilnius this month. Agreements on association and "On a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area" were to be initialed at the summit. There will be no initialling now but the president of the republic will attend the Vilnius meeting. Yerevan is still intent on strengthening the political dialogue with the EU and will seek to consolidate the progress made during the three-year talks on an association agreement.