Brussels, 30/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 30 March, the European Commission and members of the Ukrainian government initialled the EU-Ukraine association agreement, enshrining an in-depth and comprehensive free trade area. “This is a technical procedure. In December, European and Ukrainian leaders had announced that technical work had ended and that we were going to launch the text as soon as possible”, one senior European official explained. “We are doing it in March to try to keep up the momentum”, he added, explaining that initialling means the end of a technical process begun in March 2007. Another senior European official put in: “It was necessary to give a signal to the outside world that the text was ready, that it cannot be changed or renegotiated.”
The 160-page association agreement comprises a “whole series of provisions that clearly demonstrate that the EU supports Ukraine's European choice” and Ukraine's European values, the same senior officials said. “If we do not speak of Ukraine's European perspective, if we do not bear it in mind, then we simply do not need an agreement that is as unique and ambitious”, the Ukrainian negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said for his part. The part of the text on the in-depth and comprehensive free trade area covering all areas of economic relations is 1,100 pages long.
There is still a long way to go, however, before an agreement can be reached. Signature, ratification and implementation “are another matter, a political process”, said one European source. After legal verification and translation of the documents, a process that could take several months, the agreement should be signed by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, before ratification by member states. Nonetheless, the agreement could be applied temporarily, on the parts falling within Community scope, “which allows a long period of ratification to be avoided. Ratification and complete entry into force is a complex procedure, that can take 3 to 4 years”, one European official said.
Above all, European signatures and ratifications are dependent upon political progress in Ukraine regarding rule of law and reform of the justice system. Klimkin takes the view that the best way to bring Ukraine closer to the EU is to seal the association agreement, mainly on the subject of rules of law and all related questions, specifying that this agreement would allow reforms in Ukraine and an effective process for coming into line with EU norms. (CG/transl.jl)