Brussels, 28/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - 28/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and Ukraine's prime minister, Yulia Timoshenko, agreed in Brussels on Monday 28 January that negotiations over the creation of a free trade zone would be launched 'in the next few weeks'. Ukraine's upcoming membership of the World Trade Organisation in early February 2008 will pave the way for negotiations over the future creation of a free trade zone between the EU and Ukraine. Discussions will get under way in the next few weeks as soon as the experts are ready, Barroso told reporters after his meeting with Timoshenko. The free trade zone would be a 'core element' of a new 'enhanced partnership agreement' currently being negotiated between the EU and Ukraine (the sixth round of talks opened last week). The Ukrainian prime minister hoped the negotiations over the new agreement, to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, could be completed by the end of the year. The new strengthened agreement, she said, would mean that Ukraine's relations with the EU would 'take (on) an entirely new nature'. She called for the rapid launch of negotiations over the scrapping of visa obligations for Ukrainians entering the EU. On the latter point, Barroso warned that there would first have to be proper application of the visa facilitation and readmission agreements recently signed between the EU and Ukraine before any extension of the system could be considered. The Commission welcomed the fact, however, that Ukraine is in the process of negotiating bilateral agreements with its EU neighbours (Poland, Hungary and Slovakia) to facilitate crossborder traffic. Barroso said this could facilitate future negotiations over the creation of a visa-free area between Ukraine and the EU.
While in Brussels, Yulia Timoshenko also met EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson. She also discussed with the Secretary General of the EPP the prospects of the 'Timoshenko Bloc' joining the European People's Party in the future. (H.B.)