The draft law titled "On the launch of Armenia’s EU accession process" will not be included in the agenda of the National Assembly’s upcoming four-day session. This decision was made during a meeting of the NA Standing Committee on European Integration while discussing the bill in its second reading.

Committee chairman Arman Yeghoyan explained: "Since our discussion took longer than the legal deadline to include the bill in this session, I suggest postponing the vote and considering it in the next session or an extraordinary meeting," reports 1lurer.am.

"This session, we technically can’t include it anymore under the 'Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly' law, as the deadline was 12:00 PM. I expected two hours to be enough for the discussion, but it wasn’t," he added.

Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan emphasized that the draft law does not constitute an official application for EU membership, according to Armenpress.

"This law is not an application for EU accession. It aligns with our policy of closer integration with the EU," Hovhannisyan stated.

He noted that this process should not be viewed within the context of geopolitical changes.

MP Armen Gevorgyan from the Armenia faction expressed surprise, saying, "So we are adopting a law but not aiming for accession? Then why are we passing this law?"

In response, Hovhannisyan clarified, "We are launching the accession process, but that does not mean submitting an application right now. That’s what I mean."

Committee chairman Arman Yeghoyan further explained, "Once the process begins, at some stage, it will require submitting an application—maybe in a year, not now. But the law itself is about accession, and an application must precede it. The timing will depend on preceding actions."

The deputy minister agreed with Yeghoyan’s interpretation.

The NA Standing Committee on European Integration is reviewing the bill, which was submitted to Parliament as a civil initiative. It gathered over 50,000 citizen signatures before being approved by the government and presented for parliamentary discussion. The bill had already passed its first reading in the previous session.