TRADE POLICY ADVISOR OF THE EU ADVISORY GROUP

Background

The EU Advisory Group (EUAG) supports the Government of Armenia in its reform agenda as further detailed in the extended EU/Armenia Action Plan in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The overall objective of the project is to support the Republic of Armenia (RA) in the implementation of Armenia's reform agenda and relevant international commitments assumed by Armenia including through the implementation of the extended ENP Action Plan (ENP AP) and upcoming Association Agenda.

The EUAG will achieve these objectives through the continued delivery of an optimal mix of policy, legal and institutional advisory services. These services are targeted at assisting the national authorities to negotiate and conclude the EU-Armenia Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), implement the extended EU-Armenia ENP Action Plan and make effective use of European Union (EU) external assistance instruments and programmes to support the implementation of core policy areas.

A focus on the establishment of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union has been a key-component of the scope of work of the EU Advisory Group since its inception, as a follow-up to the Feb 2009 Fact Finding Mission assessing the feasibility of a DCFTA by the European Commission’s services.
Throughout this period the EUAG assisted the RA Ministry of Economy and other relevant Ministries and Agencies with the elaboration and advice on specific actions and measures in the fields of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Standard (SPS), Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) as well as Overall Coordination. Strategies and Actions Plans were adopted by the Government for TBT (Dec 2010), IPR (June 2011) and SPS/Food Safety (Nov 2011).

The cooperation between Armenia and the EU has further been strengthened by the decision of the Trade Policy Committee made on 17th of February 2012 to launch the negotiations on EU-Armenia DCFTA during the first semester of 2012.
In continuation of the results achieved over the past 3 years, the EUAG will focus its activities on key issues such as the advice on the implementation of the Actions Plans and support for the DCFTA negotiations. In addition to the key-priorities TBT, SPS and IPR, the agreement is expected to include substantive chapters on issues of (i) Tariffs and Non-Tariff Barriers; (ii) Trade Facilitation and Customs Administration; (iii) Rules of Origin; (iv) Competition Policy; (v) Services and Investment; (vi) Government Procurement; (vii) Transparency; and (viii) Sustainable Development. This extensive range of issues underscores the comprehensive nature and intent of the forthcoming Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the EUAG Management, and under the leadership of the EU Delegation in terms of policy dialogue, the Advisor is expected to:

• Support the direct beneficiaries in managing the process of identifying and prioritising advisory needs and formulate work-plans to respond to these;
• Support the direct beneficiaries with advisory services in the field of trade policy formulation and preparation towards the DCFTA;
• Support the direct beneficiaries with advisory services in the field of trade negotiations;
• Assist in the formulation of Ministerial Orders and Governmental Decrees regarding the alignment of regulatory regimes and approximation of RA laws, regulations and directives to appropriate EU best practices;
• Provide advice on the consultative process between Government and civil society, professional associations on aspects relating to the DCFTA;
• Assist the beneficiaries to identify and access the appropriate EU financing mechanism to support the implementation of the policies (e.g. Twinning, TAIEX, BSP, CIB, Framework Contract, classical TA);
• Provide advice to the beneficiaries for defining and installing policy-monitoring systems and processes;
• Assure coordination with other Advisors working on DCFTA related areas.
• Assure full coordination and information sharing with other EU funded projects related to DCFTA.
• Ensure that the management and reporting timelines defined by the EUAG are adhered to and that outputs/results are delivered on time.

The performance of the Advisor will be regularly reviewed by the project management against the duties and deliverables (see below). The Advisor will adhere at all times to the provisions of the Code of Conduct. The Advisor will be based in the Office of his principal counterpart (Ministry of Economy).

Deliverables

• Updated needs assessments on DCFTA to be provided regularly (minimum twice a year) and serve as basis for work plans and other actions.
• Work plans for the DCFTA pillar are elaborated on the basis of the needs assessments in close cooperation with the Beneficiary and the EU Delegation, approved by the EUAG management and implemented accordingly;
• Implementation of the work plans is ensured through effective cooperation with other advisors in the DCFTA area, as well as coordination meetings with other relevant EU funded projects in the DCFTA area;
• Monthly, quarterly and annual EUAG reports have been delivered with comprehensive coverage of DCFTA activities and results;
• Tailored briefings for the RA DCFTA Chief Negotiator and other senior officials of the RA, in advance of each negotiation round;
• At least two written policy advisory papers to the RA beneficiaries on the implications of specific commitments made as part of a Deep and Comprehensive FTA with the EU;
• Six-monthly internal reports monitoring, analyzing and assessing ongoing reforms in the RA’s international trade regime as well as trade-related regulatory reforms; and
• Evidence of advice on the use of other EU instruments for implementation of reforms, evidence of coordination with other EU funded projects.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Functional Competencies:

• A clear understanding of EU policies including ENP or EU accession policy and Community assistance programmes;
• A clear understanding of WTO policies and agreements, including those related to commitments in trade in services and investment;
• Highly developed coordination and facilitation skills and the ability to negotiate complex agenda with a broad range of stakeholders;
• A good knowledge of the EU-Armenia relations, of the ENP framework would be considered as an advantage.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in international economics, international trade law or other relevant discipline, a PhD would be an asset.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years experience in conducting reforms (legal, economic, public administration), in providing advice to policy makers on trade policy reform issues, or in capacity building in EU or ENP and candidate countries in the areas of economic governance.

Language Requirements:

• Proficient command of English. Knowledge of other EU community languages and knowledge of Armenian and/or Russian would be an asset.

Application deadline: 02-Apr-13

Starting date: 15-Apr-13

Duration of Initial Contract: One year (120 working days)

Exepected duration of assigment: One year

For more information, please visit http://www.euadvisorygroup.eu/