On 11 February, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and the Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy, Olivér Várhelyi, highlighted the need for Ukraine to reform the judiciary.
“Judicial reform is the mother of all reforms. We cannot claim to have the Rule of law, human rights, without an independent and effective judicial system”, explained Mr Borrell at the end of the EU-Ukraine Association Council, adding that without such a system, “it is difficult to fight corruption”.
The fight against corruption is another priority for EU representatives. And the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, recalled that this was indeed part of the national security strategy.
“Much has been done, but we expect Ukraine to continue with reforms, especially in terms of the Rule of law and the fight against corruption”, insisted Mr Borrell, while for Mr Várhelyi there is still “considerable work” to be done. In particular, he called on the country to continue economic reforms and to work on minority rights. In a Communiqué of the Association Council, the EU also recalled the importance of freedom of expression and media independence and pluralism.
Stressing the need to continue public administration reform, Mr Várhelyi announced the launch of a College of Europe training project for Ukrainian civil servants.
The Association Council also stressed the importance of the continued implementation of reforms in the energy sector.
In addition to reforms, EU representatives believe that the EU and Ukraine could step up cooperation in the fight against climate change - including through the European Green Deal - but also in the digital and telecoms sectors. “Our interest lies in updating the Annexes of the Association Agreement, particularly on trade, the digitalisation of the economy, the Green Deal, the conclusion of an industrial visa exemption regime, integration into the EU energy market and cooperation in the field of transport”, Mr Shmyhal said.
The High Representative also announced the launch of a comprehensive review of the Association Agreement in order to analyse its benefits and shortcomings. As a first step, each side will carry out an internal evaluation with a view to presenting the results at the Ukraine-EU Summit later in the year. The Commissioner pointed out that there was still a lot of untapped potential in the current agreement.
The High Representative reiterated the EU’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and both sides also addressed the Covid-19 pandemic. On Wednesday 10 February, the Commission detailed how the EU is working to enable the Ukrainian authorities to launch their vaccination campaign in February (see EUROPE 12655/19). On Friday 12 February, the European Investment Bank (EIB) also announced the allocation of €50 million to the country for Covid-19 vaccines and related supply chain equipment.
See the Communiqué of the EU-Ukraine Association Council: http://bit.ly/3d1ci8y (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)