Mediamax’s exclusive interview with Stefan Fule, European Union Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy

Stefan Fule will start his visit to Yerevan today. On the eve of the visit he gave an exclusive interview to Mediamax.

- How do you assess the current stage of Armenia-EU relations? What is the basic achievement and which spheres of cooperation need to be further bolstered?

- With the launching of the Eastern Partnership in May 2009, EU relations with Armenia entered a new phase. We now seek to lay a new legal foundation for our relations, through an Association Agreement. The Deep and Comprehensive Trade Area will allow Armenia gradually to have access to the EU’s internal market, give trade and investment a strong push and generate jobs and more vigorously economic growth in Armenia. We have also largely expanded our financial and technical assistance to Armenia, which will reach 157 million for the 2011-2013 period; this does not include the 100 million macro-financial operation that we have agreed to support Armenia in the face of the consequences of the global economic and financial crisis. We have also further projects to develop mobility of people and address migration related issues; these are important issues which will require close political attention.

We are pleased with the commitment of the government to pursue economic reforms, as confirmed by Prime Minister Sargsyan during his recent visit to Brussels. However, overall we would like to see more progress on a number of issues.

Improving nuclear safety is one of them given recent developments in Japan and we hope that we can develop our joint cooperation. Also, we would like Armenia to be more ambitious regarding the consolidation of democracy, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and enhancing media pluralism. Clearly, in this domain, a lot remains to be done. A more competitive environment in the political and economic spheres will be beneficial to the stability and prosperity of Armenia.

- Negotiations on Armenia-EUAssociation Agreement were launched last July. How do you assess this process and, particularly, the issue on establishing a Deep and Compressive Free Trade Area (DCFTA)? When are the talks on Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements scheduled to start?

- We are very pleased with the good progress made in the negotiations on an EU-Armenia Association Agreement. Thanks to the intensive agenda and mutual commitment, negotiations on 15 chapters out of 30 concerning the cooperation in a broad range of areas have already been provisionally closed. Negotiations of an EU-Armenia Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area will be launched as part of the already ongoing negotiations of the Association Agreement, once Armenia is ready for it. There is still much work to do in this area. It is key for Armenia to step up its efforts to prepare for the DCFTA and solve remaining issues before the negotiations can be launched.

The Eastern Partnership offers new opportunities to ease the possibility for citizens of partner countries to travel to the EU. An important step is the negotiation of Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements. Such negotiations have not yet started with Armenia but important preparatory work is ongoing and we hope to be able to start negotiations soon.

- Recently, European senior officials more frequently state that the European Union should play a more active role in the Karabakh conflict settlement. What does it mean and what do these statements imply?

- Presently the European Union does not have an official role in the negotiations on the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The EU contribution at this stage is limited to providing financial support to civil society organisations implementing confidence building efforts at the level of local communities. The EU continues to support the work of the OSCE Minsk Group as the international mediator in this conflict and keep a close contact with the co-chairs. In the longer run the EU is ready to step up its engagement in support of the Minsk Group, for example through providing support through increased funding for confidence building measures.

The EU also provides considerable assistance to support democratization and strengthening of the rule of law in Armenia and Azerbaijan. We believe that the association of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the EU, bringing the countries much closer to Europe politically and economically, will also favour more openness and democracy in both societies. Consequently, they should be better prepared to accept a peaceful outcome of the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Indeed, we consider that the EU cannot stand idle in relation to all the protracted conflicts in our neighbourhood which have a direct impact on our security. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty has given us new instruments and opportunities that we would like to use more effectively.

- During your news conference in Yerevan last year you said that “the EU must also make efforts to help Armenia and Turkey end this deadlock”. Do you still work with two sides on finding a way out from the current “frozen” state and do you see a chance for a dialogue in the foreseeable future?

- As expressed repeatedly, the EU continues to support the Armenian-Turkish normalisation process without preconditions. We continue to discuss the issue with both sides through our political dialogue meetings, encouraging both Armenia and Turkey to stay committed to the historical process of normalisation. I hope that there may be new possibilities for a dialogue after the forthcoming elections in Turkey. The EU stands ready to provide support for upgrading of border infrastructure once the border between the two countries will be opened.

- Mr. Füle, you noted that “a key outcome of the Review, which is due to be published in May, is a new emphasis on differentiation of the Neighbourhood Policy according to the needs and wishes of each partner country”. What does this mean in fact? How is it going to be realized in practice?

- The ENP is designed to support partner countries’ reform efforts. It remains an offer of continuous engagement towards all neighbours. However, as every neighbour is different, including in terms of its ambitions in working with the EU, it is important that the ENP is applied in a specific and differentiated way.

While reforms are implemented differently from one country to another, we consider that several elements are indispensable such as deepening democratization including free and fair elections, freedom of association, expression and assembly, free access to information, independent judiciary and security sector reform. Together with respect for human rights, action in these areas is a necessity to progress towards establishing democratic and stable political regimes. It is equally necessary to promote a business environment conducive to attracting foreign investment and sustainable growth, which will enhance a country’s own economic prosperity.

The EU has clearly expressed its wish to support partners in these renewed efforts as they ask for it and to offer more for more. It means that the EU will offer its support to partners willing to intensify their reform efforts in these areas based on mutual accountability, and it is ready to mobilise the entire range of its instruments to achieve this aim. Mobility partnerships, greater market access, increased access to EIB and EBRD lending and increased levels of assistance could be examples of such support.

- May 2011 marks two years since the launch of EU’s Eastern Partnership program, which aims to boost rapprochement between 6 post-Soviet states and the European Union. How do you assess these two years of Eastern Partnership? What issues will be on the focus of the next Eastern Partnership Summit?

- The summit will take place in September 2011 in Warsaw, which leaves more time for the implementation of the policy as well as reflection on how to advance the bilateral and multilateral tracks. More importantly, it also allows us to draw the right lessons from the events that have taken place in the Southern neighbourhood of the EU for our work in the East. During the past two years, good progress has been made with our Eastern neighbours through both tracks of the Eastern Partnership. On the bilateral track, we have launched the Association Agreement negotiations with the countries of South Caucasus (as well as with Moldova), and already made very good progress in this process. Additionally, both the EU and Ukraine are committed to concluding negotiations on an Association Agreement by the end of this year. We have broadened our sectoral dialogue with all countries of South Caucasus and intensified the dialogue on human rights. Through the multilateral track, we have launched four thematic platforms so as to be able jointly to identify possible ways forward in addressing the key challenges of (i) democracy and stability, (ii) economic integration and convergence with EU policies, (iii) energy security and (iv) people to people contacts. We have also prepared and launched a number of Flagship initiatives, which allows us to tackle some issues concretely, e.g. by launching activities in the domain of Integrated Border Management. Overall, we would wish to move faster on the issue of enhancing mobility with the partner countries and on economic integration, including through Establishing Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas once the necessary conditions will be met. Both issues are likely to be high on the agenda of the EaP Summit.

- There is an opinion that EU is not able to give the answer on the question whether ENP participant states should ever become members, and without the prospect of membership the readiness of these states to hold reforms is much lower than with these prospects. What you think?

- Being distinct from the issue of enlargement, the Eastern Partnership does not offer an EU membership perspective to our Eastern partners. At the same time, it does not prejudge future developments, one way or the other. The Association Agreement currently being negotiated, with a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area at its heart and an impressive degree of alignment with EU laws, norms and standards reflects an unprecedented level of ambition in the European Union's relations with its Eastern European partners. This is more than just an improvement of the existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreements this is a transformational agenda which impacts throughout the whole society. The values of the European Union – namely liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law – are at the heart of this process. These are the same values which, in accordance with Article 49 of the European Union Treaty, must be respected by all those European countries which have the strategic goal of European integration.

If countries are successful in the Association process - and success depends upon sustained commitment and hard work - then this will contribute to building as much of the European Union as possible within these countries, ensuring a positive impact and concrete benefits to their citizens. To help the partners prepare for the negotiations of these agreements as well as to support their future implementation, we provide increased technical and financial support to strengthen their administrative capacity at all levels. Also, we are ready to address the socio-economic regional disparities using EU’s cohesion policy as a model. In a nutshell there is enough incentive for reform, and I urge Armenia to fully seize the opportunities to undertake reforms, with the support by the EU.