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Ukraine takes its hopes to BrusselsHigh level bilateral talks between Ukraine and the European Union will take place in Brussels on Nov. 22, but are not expected to yield Ukraine anything except for dashed hopes and missed goals. Neither free trade nor visa-free travel agreements are expected to be reached in the near-term.

Despite frequent public statements by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukoyvch and other high level officials that short-term visa free travel will be accorded to Ukrainians by the 27-member political union, the 14th annual EU-Ukraine Summit may, actually, be unpleasant for the Ukrainian side.

Many believe Ukraine hasn’t lived up to its promise of integration with EU institutions and failed on many of its commitments to bring its legislation in line with EU standards and norms.

The EU conducted a mission in Ukraine this week, led by Hugues Mingarelli, to hold talks on outlining a potential association agreement including free trade with the EU. Such agreements are typically concluded with non-EU countries in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade and human rights reform in a country. A diplomat in the EU delegation to Ukraine said an association agreement is out of the question on Nov. 22.

A girl on her father’s shoulders waves flags of the European Union and Ukraine during Europe Day celebrations in Kyiv on May 15. (Yaroslav Debelyi)

The source said that five EU member states, including powerhouses Germany and France were against liberalizing the visa regime for Ukrainians under the action plan. Millions of Ukrainians are living and working abroad illegally in EU countries, and nations believe visa-free travel will encourage more to do so.

On Nov. 8, Yanukovych expressed confidence a deal will be reached to allow Ukrainian nationals to travel to EU countries for up to 90 days within a 180-day period. Valeriy Chaliy, director of the Razumkov Center, a reputable Kyiv think tank, said: “If this doesn’t happen then their meeting will be a complete failure.”

Parliament reconvenes to tackle taxes, budget

Parliament reconvenes next week and will consider the nation’s first tax code and a bill to give the public more access to government-hoarded information.
A tax code criticized for not casting a wide enough net to bring in badly needed revenue and for inequitably targeting small- and medium-sized enterprises will be considered on Nov. 16.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Nov. 5 that the tax code should be adopted in its second reading by Nov. 19, after which parliament is expected to consider the 2011 budget, starting on Dec. 1.

Nationwide protests erupted after Oct. 7 when the tax code passed a first parliamentary reading.

Azarov dismissed the anti-tax code protests as an orchestration by those who want to remain in the “shadow economy,” where as much as half of the nation’s economic activity takes place.

A man wearing a mask of Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov (C) holds a scythe to symbolize a death during an Oct. 25 rally by small businesses in Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine. (PHL)

“There’s a lot of speculation hovering around the tax code. This isn’t at all surprising because tax reform chokes the oxygen out of the ‘shadow economy’, and criminal businesses in providing VAT refunds,” Azarov said.

A European-endorsed “right to know” bill is on parliament’s agenda for Nov. 18. The bill, authored by Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko lawmaker Andriy Shevchenko, has been scuttled twice by the pro-presidential Party of Regions.

The adoption of the access to public information law would constitute a major cornerstone, in guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms, specifically the right to freedom of expression. Ukraine should join the vast majority of European states who fully recognize the importance of this right.”

– Agnes Callamard, executive director of ARTICLE 19, an international freedom of expression non-profit organization based in the United Kingdom.

It is supposed introduce the concept of public ownership over government information. It’s also supposed to give the public and journalists access to city development plans and budgets, expedite the time when information is supposed to be provided, from 30 to 5 days, and introduce a three-step justification process for classifying information, among other improvements.

The public access to information bill was supposed to be considered on Nov. 2, but was removed from the docket. Ukraine remains one of the few European states with weak public information laws.

On Oct. 5, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called on the Ukrainian parliament to adopt the law of access to public information. The OSCE’s representative on freedom of the media, Dunja Mjatovic, urged members of parliament and the Ukrainian government to enact the law during her visit to Kyiv on Oct. 13.