On Monday 19 December, the European Union and Ukraine signed several financing and cross-border cooperation agreements.
The first agreement, for €104 million over four years, focuses on support for the modernisation of Ukrainian public services, in line with the government's public administration reform strategy. This agreement includes a sum of €90 million that will be provided by the European Commission in annual tranches as budget support. The aim is to gradually build up a new generation of public servants, while enabling a change to the way civil servants are recruited, trained and paid. The remaining €14 million will be for technical assistance to ensure that adequate advice and expertise, including from EU member states, is available to the Ukrainian authorities for the effective and sustained roll-out of public administration reform, the Commission says in a press release. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini also announced a €52.5 million programme to support the rule of law in Ukraine, in the areas of justice and law enforcement.
Four agreements were also signed on Ukraine's participation in cross-border cooperation programmes: Romania-Ukraine cooperation, Poland-Ukraine-Belarus cooperation, Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine cooperation, and the Black Sea region cooperation. The programmes total €365 million and will continue to foster economic and social development in these regions and to meet common challenges in areas such as the environment, public health, preventing and fighting organised crime, and the effectiveness and security of borders.
In addition, the European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a series of loans, for around €600 million, in the areas of further education, energy efficiency, rail and SMEs (see other article).
EU backs privatisation of PrivatBank
At the end of the third EU-Ukraine Association Council on 19 December, Mogherini hailed Ukraine's progress in terms of reforms – especially reforms of the economy, energy, and the rule of law (including the fight against corruption). She spoke about the ongoing privatisation of PrivatBank, which she described as a "bold and courageous decision". "This step should help ensure that all banks in Ukraine are held to the same prudential regulatory standards, making the banking sector stronger and more resilient", she stated. The Ukrainian government decided to privatise the country's largest bank urgently in order to avoid a collapse of the financial system. The international community is calling on Ukraine to clean up its banking system.
During the Council, Mogherini and Ukraine's First Vice Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv also discussed bilateral relations between the EU and Ukraine, visa liberalisation and the situation in eastern Ukraine. Six soldiers were killed in fighting over the weekend. "This very saddening news is a further reminder of how necessary the full implementation of the Minsk agreements is", Mogherini stated. On 19 December, the EU extended the economic sanctions against Russia until 31 July 2017. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)