The results of the Summit “Ukraine-European Union”.
Seventeenth Summit “Ukraine – EU” was held in Kiev on April 27 2015.
The European Union was represented by the President of the European Council Donald Tusk and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker. Ukraine was represented by the President Petro Poroshenko.
It was the first Summit of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, the implementation of which will be the determining step in the process of deepening political association and economic integration of Ukraine with the EU, based on respect for common values and their effective dissemination.
During the Summit, leaders had approved the signing and provisional application of the beginning of the relevant parts of the Association Agreement and progress in preparing for the temporary use of a free trade zone with the January 1, 2016. They stressed the importance of early ratification of the Association Agreement by the Member States in accordance with their internal procedures. Activation of the reform process will be crucial in terms of political association and economic integration of Ukraine with the EU.
They welcomed the first steps to implement the reforms taken by Ukraine in key areas, such as constitutional reform, decentralization, fight against corruption, reform of the judicial system, restructuring of the energy sector and improving the business climate. The leaders noted that the implementation of these reforms will be crucial and should quickly provide further concrete results. In particular, they are welcomed:
– Start of work of the Constitutional Commission;
– Progress in the decentralization process;
– The revision of the legislation on public service broadcasting;
– The adoption of a package of anti-corruption laws, including a state anti-corruption strategy, 2014-2017, the law on the prosecutor’s office, court system and status of judges;
– Appointment of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau;
– Adding to the Parliament draft laws on civil service, including local government level;
– Adoption of the Law on the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine, legislation on state aid, amendments to the law on public procurement, increased transparency in the activities of enterprises owned by the state;
– Continue the reform of tariffs and energy prices, the adoption of new legislation on gas market in accordance with the obligations under the Energy Community, the introduction to the parliament a draft law on national regulators gas and electricity market;
– Progress in reducing the number of regulatory and licensing requirements in order to simplify the business environment.
The leaders welcomed the commitment of the European Union and European financial institutions, presented in March 2014 regarding the provision of financial support to Ukraine in the amount of 11 billion euros to support political, economic and financial stabilization in Ukraine. At the present time it has been allocated 6 billion. Euros in the form of loans and grants, including the newly agreed additional third program of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of 1.8 billion euros and transfer last week, the last tranche of $ 250 million. Euros in the previous macro program assistance. The leaders agreed on the speedy conclusion of the Memorandum of Understanding and the Loan Agreement on the third macro-financial assistance program, which will provide the first tranche of the Ukraine probably by mid-2015.
During the Summit, the Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk urged Western partners to become shareholders of Ukrainian gas transportation system and help the domestic economy direct investment.
