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The European Union is committed to supporting Armenia’s reform agenda but is not ready to provide a 100% funding to all the programs, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Thursday, summing up his recent visit to Brussels.

“We can be said to be entering into an active phase of implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The Brussels meetings made it clear that the EU is fully ready to assist in the reform agenda and implementation of development programs in Armenia in general,'' he said.

The PM underlined this cooperation features no geopolitical agenda for both Armenia and the EU, which is ‘really very important in the system.’

“But there is one subtlety here requiring important decision-making in the nearest future. Yesterday, I reflected on this topic in the parliament, the issue is the following: we have discussed several megaprojects with the EU, the first group of which addressed highways and transport infrastructures. Our goal is to make the roads of Armenia in line with the European standards. We also must make a decision on the North-South highway project,” Pashinyan said.

The PM also stressed the importance of installing water-cleaning stations around Lake Sevan and along Hrazdan River. As another key issue, he stressed the urgent need of bringing the school development standards in line with all the seismic norms and ensuring the conformity of educational curricula with the modern demands and standards.

The PM also pointed to a problem in implementing serious programs in the justice sector, adding that he drew the European partners' attention to the conditions in the country’s correction facilities.

He stressed they have received the European Union's full commitment to supporting implementation of all programs in Armenia. However, he says, there is a problem here – the EU, while being ready to offer support, is not ready to provide a 100% funding, since they expect Armenia to have its serious engagement in those programs.

“Our key task here refers to an increase in the state revenues. But in this context an importance is attached to attracting external funds, hence infrastructures are now considered the primary target for attracting foreign funds as envisaged in our government's program,'' he added.