EU approves mandate of negotiations team with Armenia

Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tigran Balayan has written about it on his Twitter.

On October 9, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian expressed the hope during his meeting with French Minister of State for European Affairs Harlem Desir that the EU Council would approve the mandate of the negotiations team in near future which would allow starting the talks.

It should be recalled that the talks around Armenia-EU Association Agreement kicked off in July 2010, and the talks on Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area making part of the Association Agreement began in June 2012.

In July 2013 the negotiations on Association Agreement between Armenia and European Union were completed. In September 2013 Armenia announced its decision to join the Customs Union. The EU and Armenia acknowledged that they have completed negotiations on an Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, but will not proceed with its initialing due to Armenia's new international commitments.

On 29 November 2013, an EU-Armenia joint statement was adopted at the Vilnius Summit reconfirming the commitment of the parties to further develop and strengthen comprehensive cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. Based on common values, Armenia and EU are committed to further cooperation in all the areas of mutual interest.