Brussels, 16/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 16 September, a year to the day since the simultaneous ratification of the EU-Ukraine association agreement by the European and Ukrainian Parliaments (see EUROPE 11156), the presidents of the two assemblies - Martin Schulz and Volodymyr Groysman - called on the countries of the EU that have not yet ratified the agreement to do so.
“We look forward to full-fledged entry into force of the association agreement on 1 January 2016 and we encourage the remaining parliaments of the EU member states to conclude the ratification procedure in time”, Schulz and Groysman said in a joint press release. Three member states have not yet ratified the association agreement - Cyprus, Greece and the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic, the Senate has already voted and the chamber of deputies is expected to do so this week.
In their joint statement, Schulz and Groysman said that their two assemblies would continue “close cooperation aimed at capacity building of the Ukrainian Parliament”. “In fulfilment of the memorandum of understanding we signed on 3 July 2015, a needs assessment mission has already started its work in Ukraine and by the end of this year will prepare a report and roadmap for a comprehensive reform of the Verhovna Rada”, they stated (see EUROPE 11352).
Schulz and Groysman also said that their two parliaments remained “united as systemic, institutional, political and economic reforms are underway in Ukraine and as we are working towards a peaceful solution to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine”. “The European Parliament will at all times stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Verhovna Rada in the course of the implementation of this agreement and the reforms Ukraine needs”, they said. During a conference at the European Parliament reviewing the situation a year after ratification of the agreement, the leader of the Ukraine support group, Peter Balas, said that although the reforms “were progressing” and the trend was “positive”, “the EU would like to see faster progress as regards the rule of law”. Balas highlighted corruption, judicial reform and reform of the administration. Ostap Semerak, a member of the Verhovna Rada, said that since the ratification of the agreement, his parliament had adopted 15 important new laws to fulfil the association agreement. He also said that 20 draft laws were currently in his parliament, and that various regulations had been adopted in order to introduce European standards into Ukrainian legislation.
Schulz and Groysman also said that “by the end of the year” they expect “positive decisions concerning visa liberalisation, which will bring tangible benefits for the Ukrainian people”. During the one-year-on review conference at the European Parliament, Dirk Schuebel, the head of division for bilateral relations with the Eastern Partnership countries at the European External Action Service (EEAS), said he hoped that the experts would report by mid-October and that the Council of the EU and Parliament would be asked in December to decide whether visas can be liberalised. “Ukraine, I hope, in the course of the year, will benefit from a visa-free regime”, he said. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)