Brussels, 15/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 14 November, MEPs and their Ukrainian counterparts confirmed the mutual commitment of their respective institutions to ratify the EU-Ukraine association agreement as quickly as possible after it has been signed. Signature of this agreement could take place at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on 28-29 November. In the joint statement from the parliamentary cooperation committee - a statement that was adopted unanimously - the members of parliament hope that the agreement can be signed (on the condition that the criteria laid down by the Council on 10 December 2012 have been fulfilled). They also want provisional application of the agreement to be started quickly. They gave their full support to the European Parliament's Cox-Kwasniewski mission. The members of parliament state that the focus of the post-Vilnius agenda for Ukraine must involve the “correct and devoted” implementation of the association agreement and for this reason they call on the Ukrainian government to finalise (in close consultation with the EU) and adopt the national implementation programme for the association agreement.
Helping Ukraine financially. Concerned by Russia's latest “hostile” trade measures against Ukrainian exports, the members of parliament hoped that the EU would be forward-looking and strategic in terms of reducing the consequences of Russia's pressure. They therefore said that the EU must grant substantial aid to Ukraine, helping it to resume cooperation with the IMF, to increase the number of financial and technical support programmes, and to thaw budgetary support programmes. They added that the EU must also grant macro-economic assistance to Ukraine, open up EU markets more widely to goods and services from Ukraine, and also step up the information campaign on the benefits of the association agreement for Ukraine, the EU and the Russian Federation. (CG/transl.fl)