Signature of Association Agreement with the EU will depend on Ukraine’s performance
Without prejudice to a future
political decision on possible signature, the Commission adopted today
the proposals for Council Decisions on (i) the signing and provisional
application as well as (ii) the conclusion of the EU-Ukraine Association
Agreement, which will be transmitted to the Council for further
processing. The Commission accompanied the two proposals with a
political statement (see below).
With today’s decision, the EU is
taking a necessary preparatory step in order to be technically ready for
the possible signing of the Association Agreement (including its Deep
and Comprehensive Free Trade Area – DCFTA) at the Eastern Partnership
Summit in Vilnius in six months from now. The EU has underlined that it
will only sign if Ukraine creates the necessary political circumstances.
Today’s adoption of the two
proposals for Council Decision technically enables the EU to move ahead
with the required preparatory arrangements without pre-empting any
decision: the signing of the Agreement remains conditional on determined
action and tangible progress by Ukrainian authorities on the benchmarks
set out by the Council conclusions of 10 December 2012 and to be
assessed by the Member States before the Vilnius Summit later this year (follow-up
actions from the October 2012 parliamentary elections; addressing the
cases of selective justice and preventing any recurrence and moving
ahead with the jointly-agreed reform agenda).
Before authorising signature,
Member States must be allowed sufficient time for their internal
procedures, including consulting of national parliaments. Taken into
consideration the length and complexity of the Agreement, this process
will take a minimum of six months.
Background
The Agreement is the first of a
new generation of Association Agreements between the European Union and
the Eastern Partnership countries. It aims at deepening political and
economic relations between Ukraine and the EU, as well as at improving
Ukraine’s access to the EU Internal Market, including through a DCFTA,
thus providing better conditions for economic cooperation between the EU
and Ukraine.
The Association Agreement
negotiations were finalised in 2011 and on 30 March 2012, the chief
negotiators of the European Union and Ukraine initialled the text of the
EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
On 10 December 2012, the Foreign Affairs
Council adopted Conclusions on Ukraine, expressing the EU’s commitment
to the signing of the Association Agreement, including the DCFTA, as
soon as the Ukrainian authorities demonstrate determined action and
tangible progress in the three areas (elections, selective justice, and
overall reforms as set out in the Association Agenda), possibly by the
time of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November 2013. It
also stressed the necessity for Ukraine to improve its business climate.
The Council also indicated that the signature of the Agreement could be
accompanied by opening for provisional application of parts of the
Agreement.
As requested by the 10 December
2012 Council Conclusions, the High Representative and the Commission are
monitoring and keeping the Council informed about progress achieved by
Ukraine in meeting the requirements set out by the Council conclusions,
including in the context of the preparations of the June 2013 EU-Ukraine
Cooperation Council and November 2013 Eastern Partnership Summit in
Vilnius.
Negotiations of this comprehensive
and ambitious Agreement between the EU and Ukraine were launched in
March 2007. In February 2008, following the decision of accession of
Ukraine to the WTO, the EU and Ukraine launched negotiations on the
DCFTA, as a core element of the Association Agreement.
The Association Agreement aims to
accelerate the deepening of political and economic relations between
Ukraine and the EU, as well as Ukraine’s gradual access to the EU
Internal Market including by setting up the DCFTA. It is a concrete way
to exploit the dynamics in EU-Ukraine relations, focusing on support to
core reforms, on economic recovery and growth, governance and sector
co-operation. The Agreement also constitutes a reform agenda for
Ukraine, based on a comprehensive programme of approximation of
Ukraine’s legislation to many EU norms, around which all partners of
Ukraine can align themselves and focus their assistance. EU assistance
to Ukraine is linked with the reform agenda as it emerges from the
Agreement. The Comprehensive Institutional Building Programme is
particularly important in this regard.
Commission statement on the occasion of
the adoption of the Commission’s proposals to the Council on the Signing
and Provisional Application, and on the Conclusion, of the EU-Ukraine
AA/DCFTA
The Commission adopted today the
proposals for Council Decisions on the Signing and Provisional
Application, and on the Conclusion, of the EU-Ukraine Association
Agreement, including its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area.
On 10 December 2012, the Foreign Affairs Council reaffirmed its readiness to sign the Agreement as
soon as the Ukrainian authorities demonstrate determined action and
tangible progress in three key areas, possibly by the time of the
Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit on 28/29 November: appropriate
follow-up actions to the 2012 parliamentary elections; addressing the
issue of selective justice and preventing its recurrence; and
implementing the reforms set out in the jointly agreed Association
Agenda. Additional expectations were listed in relation to the need for
Ukraine to take determined actions to improve its deteriorating business
and investment climate.
Today’s adoption of the Commission’s proposals is a necessary step in order to enable
the European Union technically to move ahead with the necessary
preparatory arrangements to enable a possible signing at the Vilnius
Summit. But this step does not prejudge in any way the Council’s
decision.
The Commission
takes the view that the signing of the Agreement remains conditional on
determined action and tangible progress by Ukrainian authorities on all of the benchmarks set out by the 10 December 2012 Council Conclusions. The Commission together with the EEAS will continue to monitor Ukraine’s progress.
It is now up
to the Ukrainian authorities to address the outstanding issues in order
to enable the signing of the Agreement. This would represent a historic
breakthrough in EU-Ukraine relations.
