Armenia Caught Between (In-)Compatible Legal Orders: Paths of Competitive and Cumulative Integration

Abstract

In 2013, Armenia abandoned the plan to sign the Association Agreement and to establish a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with the EU. Instead, it acceded to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Against this U-turn in Armenia’s integration agenda, this contribution critically investigates the (in)compatibility of participation in the European and the Eurasian legal orders. While the customs union-based regional integration processes preclude Armenia’s participation in both, the authors argue that the strict dichotomy of having to choose one or another transnational legal order and the subsequent legal and political divisions harm Armenia and hamper the achievement of objectives inherent to the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood. It will be argued that this dichotomy may be overcome by a rapprochement between the EU and the EAEU, potentially through contractual relations. Moreover the creative ways in which the EU already provides for differentiated integration could be adapted to enable Armenia reconcile legal approximation with the EU with its engagement within the Eurasian region.