During their 20th bilateral summit, in Brussels on Monday 9 July, the European Union and Ukraine hailed the "substantial" increase in their bilateral trade flows and the "effectiveness" of their free trade agreement that entered into force on 1 September 2017.
"Since last year, our bilateral trade has gone up by almost 25%. The number of Ukrainian companies exporting to the EU is up by over 40% since 2014. This shows just how much can be achieved when we work together in full trust and confidence", Juncker stated at the end of the summit. "This is how we must now go on. The more Ukraine reforms, the more the European Union will support it", he added.
The EU also hailed the continuing commitments taken by Ukraine, as part of the association agreement, to bring its legislation closer to that of the EU, especially in the areas of the digital market, customs cooperation and energy.
The parties agreed to continue reforms in the Ukrainian energy sector, particularly to reform the gas and electricity markets, including the unbundling needed to integrate the Ukrainian market with that of the EU.
In addition, the parties reaffirmed Ukraine's role as a strategic transit country for gas, and they confirmed their readiness to commit to a trilateral process with Russia, facilitated by the Commission, on the contractual framework for the transit of gas to the EU after 2019. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)