Brussels, Belgium – The European Parliament may recommend the EU Council should sign the Association Agreement with Ukraine if Kyiv meets all the necessary conditions.
This is stated in the draft resolution entitled “The European Neighborhood Policy: towards a strengthening of the partnership. Position of the European Parliament on the 2012 reports,” which will be put on vote at a meeting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday. MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski will present the document.
“[The European Parliament] recommends that the Council sign the Association Agreement between the EU and its Member States, on the one part, and Ukraine on the other part, if the required conditions, as formally defined by the Foreign Affairs Council of Dec. 10, 2012 and supported by Parliament’s resolution of Dec. 13, 2012, are met; expresses its approval, conditional upon the above-mentioned requirements, of the Council decision on the provisional application of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement immediately upon signature; states its intention, in the event of meeting all requirements and subsequent signing, to proceed with the full ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement within the present legislative term,” the draft resolution reads.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament offers to express regret that progress in fulfilling the requirements of the Association Agreement “have not been fully achieved, with Ukraine persisting in its application of selective justice and still lacking elements of reform in the electoral and legal systems.”
The EP welcomes, nevertheless, the recent commitments made by both Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition leaders to proceed with the required legal acts through Verkhovna Rada, and awaits prompt delivery on those promises before the Vilnius summit.
In its draft resolution, the European Parliament also recognizes the progress made so far, but stresses that further work needs to be done and further efforts must be made to complete the reform of the Prosecutor’s Office, improve the electoral legislation, and address the problem of selective justice.
The European Parliament also welcomes the ongoing dialogue between Ukraine and the EU and their common ambition to sign an Association Agreement at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on Nov. 28-29, 2013.
The draft resolution also acknowledges Ukraine’s European aspirations and reiterates its view that a deepening of relations between the EU and Ukraine and the fact of offering Ukraine a European perspective are of great significance, and are in the interests of both parties.
The document also condemns the recent trade sanctions imposed by Russia on Ukrainian exports, which are aimed at putting pressure on Ukraine to keep it from signing the Association Agreement with the EU.
In its draft resolution, the European Parliament “calls on Russia not to impose these sanctions and to refrain from undue political interference and pressure.”
