On Wednesday 13 June, the European Parliament approved (with 527 votes in favour, 124 against and 29 abstentions) the granting of new macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, this time for a maximum of up to €1 billion.
The European Commission's initial proposal, approved by the EU Council (see EUROPE 12029), will help cover Ukraine's needs in external financing for 2018-2019.
The assistance will be distributed in two instalments in the form of loans in return for Kiev's active fight against corruption – including the establishment of an anti-corruption court, in line with the recommendations of the Council of Europe's Venice Commission.
The European Parliament, Council and Commission will publish a joint statement on the political conditions Ukraine must fulfil – due to fears linked to the pace of reforms and the fight against corruption in the country. This statement says that, as a pre-condition for granting the loan, Ukraine must also respect parliamentary pluralism, the rule of law and human rights.
"This is not unconditional support!", Jarosław Wałęsa MEP (EPP, Poland), the European Parliament's rapporteur for this issue, stated.
The Ukrainian Parliament voted on 7 June to set up an anti-corruption system.
The Commission will check that the pre-conditions along with the granting of the assistance are respected throughout the process and will publish its conclusions. If the conditions are not fulfilled, the Commission will have to suspend or temporarily cancel its payments, the MEPs say.
In January, as part of its previous macro-financial assistance, the payment of a €600 million instalment was cancelled.
The next EU-Ukraine summit will take place in Brussels on Monday 9 July. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)