European Commission approves signing association with Ukraine – NRCU
European Commission approves signing association with Ukraine
15-05-2013 17:11
The European Commission has voted for the EU Council’s resolution on the signing and provisional implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
The resolution is technical and does not envision a political decision on signing the agreement. It is one of the necessary preparatory steps for signing the agreement at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November,” the commission’s press service reported on Wednesday. The European Commission said in a statement that the agreement would only be signed if Kyiv provided the necessary political prerequisites, including improvements in the business climate in the country. The commission said that together it would continue to monitor Ukraine’s progress. According to the statement, now is the time for the Ukrainian authorities to address the key outstanding issues on the Association Agenda in order to enable the signing of the agreement which will become a historic breakthrough in relations between Ukraine and the EU. Kyiv and Brussels started negotiating a new agreement on political association and a deep and comprehensive free trade area in 2007. The document was initialled in March, 2012. Since then, the EU has repeatedly criticized Ukraine for “backsliding on democracy and using selective justice”. On December 10th, 2012 the EU Foreign Affairs Council approved conclusions on Ukraine in which Brussels stated its readiness to sign the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement provided that Kyiv demonstrates determined action and tangible progress in reforming election legislation, solving the problem of selective justice, and implementing the reforms on the Association Agenda.