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In the extraordinary sitting of February 15, the NA Standing Committee on European Integration debated and took note of the report on the implementation process and results of the RA Government programme (2021-2026) for 2023.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Paruyr Hovhannisyan presented the work carried out in the field last year, noting that the RA-EU political dialogue has significantly deepened, significantly raising the level of political dialogue and including new components, including the security sector.

In 2023, the dialogue between Armenia and the EU on political and security issues was launched, the first meeting of which was held in Yerevan on January 26, and the second meeting - in Brussels on November 15.

The institutional framework of the partnership established by the RA-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement continued to function effectively both in 2023 and in the first quarter of 2024.

The Deputy Minister also presented the humanitarian support implemented by the EU, aimed at the needs of our compatriots forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.

During the financial year, special attention was paid to the initiation of the dialogue on the liberalization of the RA-EU visas. The issue was debated during all the high-level meetings and sittings of the higher political bodies, and the field of legal contracts was expanded.

During the Q&A session, the Committee Chair Arman Yeghoyan and the Committee member Sona Ghazaryan inquired about various issues regarding patents, which concern the citizens. “Unfortunately, I have to share your concern and note with regret that there is only one issue where we have not yet achieved any of our results. It’s a matter of patents. As I mentioned, work was done here at all levels, but I cannot say that there was progress. On the contrary, there was a setback, even the students going to study within the framework of the Erasmus programme have problems related to leaving. We also receive many complaints from the citizens. Once again, we are trying to activate our work, and we hope that we will make progress in this matter before the European elections this year,” the Deputy Minister said.

The Deputy Chair of the Committee Meri Galstyan touched upon the significant growth of the RA-EU trade turnover, pointing out that compared to 2022, it increased by 17.1%, amounting to 2.7 billion USD. “Can we keep and develop this dynamic in the coming years?” she asked. According to Paruyr Hovhannisyan, a significant increase in trade with almost all the EU member states is noticeable, which is explained by several factors. He stated that efforts are being made to maintain that agility. In particular, a number of new formats and steps aimed at maintaining and developing trade turnover with the EU countries will be created.