Brussels, 27/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 27 April, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said that Ukraine would one day be part of the European Union. However, as regards the current challenges to be faced, “let's take it one day at a time”.
“Ukraine is a member of the European family, but not yet a member of the EU. Being a member of a family and of an organisation are two different things. As far as we are concerned, Ukraine is deeply rooted in Europe and, therefore, at an as yet uncertain point in the future, will be a member of the organisation” of the EU, he explained at the start of the plenary session of the EU (our translation throughout). “There is always a need for patience and determination when there is a long journey and a long distance” to be travelled, he added. “The question of accession is not a question of immediate relevance (…). We need to take things one day at a time”, he told a press conference.
The Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, announced that his mission was to ensure that in five years from now, Ukraine will have implemented the association agreement and “met the conditions to apply to join the EU”. He stressed the “irrevocable nature” of Ukraine's choice and called upon the EU to support the country's European integration aspirations.
The member states have never officially discussed Ukraine's accession to the EU, going no further than to state that the “association agreement does not constitute the final goal of EU-Ukraine cooperation”.
Calls for reforms to continue
Juncker and the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, called upon Ukraine to continue its reforms and to fight corruption. Juncker reconfirmed the fact that the EU/Ukraine free-trade agreement will enter into force on 1 January 2016, in line with the trilateral compromise reached at ministerial level on 12 September 2014 (see EUROPE 11155), in which the Commission decided to postpone by 15 months the effective application of the agreement in order to respond to Russian concerns. “It's enough to delay the start of the programme”, he stressed. Russia is reported to have called for implementation to be postponed until 1 January 2017. President Petro Poroshenko has, for his part, insisted on securing a visa-free regime for his country by the end of the year.
Tusk also announced that a European union civil assessment mission would be dispatched “as soon as possible” to explore possible additional common security and defence policy activities, in response to a request from Ukraine. The country is believed to want the EU to establish a peace mission. “Today, it is impossible to send a military mission, we have not discussed such a project at European level”, the President of the European Council explained. He reiterated the EU's support for the OSCE's surveillance mission. Tusk also stressed his concerns at reports of a reemergence of violence in eastern Ukraine, stressing the importance of implementing the Minsk agreements.
Juncker also announced an extra €70 million to improve the safety of the nuclear site of Chernobyl, notably to complete the sealing-off of reactor IV, which was destroyed in 1986. The Commission has already provided €360 million for this purpose.
Lastly, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was unable to attend the summit. She sent her apologies to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Pavlo Klimkin, on Sunday 26 April, explaining that on the day of the summit, she would be off the coast of Sicily on board the Italian vessel San Giusto (see other article). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)