By Armen Zakarian
An ah hoc parliamentary commission formed last month to foster Armenia’s integration into the European community held its first meeting on Tuesday, electing deputy speaker Tigran Torosian as its chairman. The multipartisan group comprises two opposition lawmakers: Shavarsh Kocharian of the Artarutyun (Justice) bloc and Hmayak Hovannisian of the National Unity Party. Both of them attended its opening session.
Torosian told RFE/RL that the commission will concentrate on passage of legislation stemming Armenia’s membership obligations to the Council of Europe and meeting broader European standards. He said it will seek to remove numerous “contradictions” between Armenian and
European laws.
Armenia has yet to satisfy all of the conditions for its hard-won accession to the Council of Europe in January 2001. The Armenian National Assembly spends a large part of its time on the adoption of relevant laws. It is expected that the process will now be coordinated by Torosian’s commission.
The vice-speaker said it will submit a detailed plan of action to the parliament next month.