France has not made final decision on Eastern Partnership initiative yet

PanARMENIAN.Net - France has not made a final decision on the Eastern Partnership initiative yet, France's Ambassador to Armenia Serge Smessov said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net



"The Action Plan opens wide possibilities to bring closer the EU and South Caucasus, let it be modernization and democratization or economic closing with a possibility of creation of a free trade zone," he said.



European Union leaders backed lately plans to offer closer ties to the bloc's eastern neighbors, partly to match a more ambitious project for the Mediterranean region.



The Eastern Partnership plan is to offer new areas of cooperation to Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and, subject to domestic reforms, Belarus. But the plan is vague, with details only to be worked out by March, 2009.



The EU's eastern neighbors are already linked to Brussels through the strictly bilateral European Neighborhood Policy, which offers countries better trade access, economic assistance and visa liberalization as they adapt to EU standards.

Full text of the interview