Yerevan/Mediamax/. EU Chief Negotiator Gunnar Wiegand said in his exclusive interview to Mediamax that “Armenia has indeed made very good progress in the preparations for negotiations of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with the EU on the basis of the key recommendations made by European Commission”.

“Many of the requirements needed for the start of the negotiations have already been addressed”, said Gunnar Wiegand.

According to him, despite this very positive overall picture, some specific further progress still remains to be achieved, notably in the areas of Technical Barriers to Trade and the protection of Intellectual Property Right, where the national legislative framework should be reformed in line with the EU law.

“According to the Decree of Armenian Prime Minister of 10 August these remaining requirements would be met by the end of this year. In the light of this commitment, I look forward to confirmation from our experts whether the last requirements have indeed been met”, said Gunnar Wiegand in an exclusive interview to Mediamax.

“Let me also take the opportunity to underline that the launch of negotiations is only one step on the road to concluding DCFTA. For the full benefits of new trade opportunities to be exploited, Armenia should fully implement the reforms”, concluded Gunnar Wiegand.

On December 16, answering Mediamax’s question Armenian Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan expressed the hope that the negotiations on establishing a Free Trade Area with the EU will start in the first half of 2012. “We have realized large-scale work and I think if we keep working like this we may finish the negotiations, which mainly last 5 years, within 2-3 years”, stated Tigran Davtyan.