Yerevan /Mediamax/. The EU stands ready to support the Armenian Government’s reforms agenda.

Katarína Mathernová, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission, said this in Yerevan.

She underlined the importance of deepening relations on the basis of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

The visit of Deputy Director-General Mathernová is an important milestone in EU-Armenia relations as it is the first senior-level visit by the European Commission to the country since the new government took office.

“Since the provisional entry into force of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement on 1 June, the EU’s relations with Armenia are closer than ever. The EU stands ready to support the Government's reforms agenda and will continue to work together with the Government to best meet the hopes and expectations of Armenia's citizens. Our recent opinion polls show that 80% of citizens across the country describe relations between Armenia and the EU as positive. The EU is the biggest trade partner in Armenia and the main donor with increasing support over the years providing €46 million in 2018 in bilateral assistance only. Working jointly towards achieving the “20 Deliverables for 2020” within the framework of the Eastern Partnership is another major objective of our cooperation to bring tangible benefits to our citizens”, Katarína Mathernová said.

Discussions with the government during the visit, including with Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, focused on how to maximise the impact of EU-Armenia cooperation by concrete actions:

(1) deepening engagement by providing EU expertise through High Level Advisors to help formulate and implement reforms;

(2) a CEPA facility which can mobilise around €80 million for private sector investment;

(3) hold an EU week in Armenia in September with a series of events around the Partnership Committee in Trade configuration.

Katarína Mathernová also met Minister of Economic Development and Investments Artsvik Minasyan, as well as with Armenian private sector representatives and International financial institutions.

Together with Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, Deputy Director-General Mathernová launched the project "EU for Armenia – E-Gov Actions". This brings together all the government applications supported by the EU under one platform, such as e-register.am and e-request.am. These online portals have transformed the way in which citizens and businesses interact with their local and national administration by increasing quality of service, efficiency and transparency.