EU-Armenian Relations: Charting a fresh course. CEPS Research Report No. 2017/14, November 2017

摘要

The EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), initialled inMarch 2017, presents a fresh start for the deepening of relations between the two parties inthe wake of Armenia’s abortive Association Agreement and related Deep and ComprehensiveFree Trade Agreement (DCFTA). Despite a difficult and complicated context, both the EU andArmenia have demonstrated the necessary political will to negotiate a new compromiseagreement that takes into account Armenia’s commitments and limitations as a member of theEurasian Economic Union (EAEU). CEPA retains a considerable amount of content from thesacrificed Association Agreement, asseen in the areas of political dialogue, justice and freedom,and even security. The new agreement also includes a substantial amount of the EU acquis inlegally binding provisions across a range of sectoral areas of cooperation, although theeffectiveness of CEPA’s essential degree of conditionality remains an open question. The issuesmost affected by Armenia’s EAEU membership are core trade policy elements and theconsequential loss of any DCFTA. CEPA may be viewed in EU policy terms as an example of‘differentiation’ and greater flexibility, as advocated by the 2015 European NeighbourhoodPolicy review, although this was prompted by Russian force majeure. The ultimate impact ofCEPA remains a test of implementation, which still poses undeniable challenges for Armenia.