On 30 January, Mr. Karen Zadoyan, President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, Mr. Emin Yeritsyan, President of the “Union of Communities of Armenia”, Mr. Movses Aristakesyan, President of the “Center for Economic Rights” NGO, as well as CSO representatives Ms Suzanna Soghomonyan and Mr. Artyom Mesropyan participated in the extraordinary sitting of the RA NA Standing Committee on European Integration. Issues related to the role of NGOs and civil society in the implementation of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Partnership Agreement (CEPA) Roadmap were discussed during the sitting. The representatives of the mentioned organizations also represented the Constructive Dialogue Network of Armenian CSOs and the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia.
The session discussed issues related to Civil Society Platform established by the Agreement, going beyond the limited obligations to keep civil society representatives informed and to exchange views with them, as foreseen in Article 366 of the Agreement; recalls that the civil society organizations involved should reflect the broadest possible range of political and social interests.
The Civil Society Platform will be a platform for meetings and exchanging opinions and will be composed of representatives of the European Union civil society, including members of the European Economic and Social Committee, and representatives of civil society organizations, networks and platforms in Armenia, including the representatives of the Armenian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership. In total, the platform will consist of 10 representatives. Platform members will be selected on a competitive basis, standards for its implementation will be developed within the next two months. NGOs in the Platform will be changed on the rotation basis regularly.
The members of the Commission and representatives of non-governmental organizations emphasized the importance of implementing the provisions of the CEPA, outlining the priorities and areas that need both reform and monitoring. The participants of the discussion considered the reform of the judicial system, anti-corruption strategy, education, human rights, hate speech, gas, electricity and water tariffs, amendments to the RA Labor Code, implementation of reforms in the field of transport security to be prioritized. For this purpose they are ready to submit their expert advice and recommendations formed as a result of monitoring.
In order to discuss these and many other issues by sectors, the Commission will soon hold meetings with relevant sectoral NGOs.
Photo from parliament.am.
