The sixteenth regular meeting of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee (PAC) took place in Kyiv on 7 March 2025, co-chaired by Vadym Halaychuk from the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Pekka Toveri from the European Parliament.
During the PAC meeting, the parties discussed the impact of Russian aggression, the development of relations between Ukraine and the EU, and Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration, highlighting the necessity of expanding political, financial and military assistance to Ukraine and strengthening sanctions against Russia and its supporters. In particular, the PAC meeting underlined the importance of speeding up Ukraine's integration into the EU and cooperation with NATO in cybersecurity and tackling disinformation.
The most significant result of the meeting was the call to strengthen interparliamentary support for Ukraine in its transition from the Association Agreement framework to the pre-accession one.
As Vadym Halaychuk said, the PAC decided to introduce a permanent Subcommittee on accession within the Parliamentary Assembly to ensure greater clarity and flexibility for dialogue, as well as cooperation with other parliaments, experts and civil society, in particular on the accession process and legislative harmonisation.
“For our part, we are still working on the finalisation of the mandate and the tasks that the subcommittee and its working processes will address, but the main idea is to create a body that will keep its finger on the pulse and follow the overall process of European integration,” explained Pekka Toveri.
The Ukrainian co-chair of the PAC, Vadym Halaychuk, stressed that the European Union should not only adapt its security policy, but also increase its assistance to Ukraine, as the stability of the entire region depends on it. He stressed that effective defence cooperation between Ukraine and the EU is a key to long-term peace, and the joint decisions taken today will be important steps to ensure the security of the entire European continent.
“Our discussions were focused on the key questions that matter most today - how Europe will defend itself in the face of growing threats, how it will continue and strengthen its assistance to Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor, and what changes are needed in the approaches to the common defence policy to ensure the long-term security of the entire European continent,” Vadym Halaychuk said. He also added that the Ukrainian side had the opportunity not only to discuss pressing issues but also to receive clear answers from European colleagues on further steps of Ukraine's support, and all key issues were discussed and agreements were achieved.
Pekka Toveri, Chair of the PAC on behalf of the European Parliament, noted the rapid pace of Ukraine's progress towards European integration. He added that Ukraine has already made significant progress by making great efforts and fulfilling the requirements. Pekka Toveri also stressed that Ukraine is now defending not only its own security but also the security of the entire EU, and that is why Europe owes a debt to Ukrainian people.
“We believe that one of the ways to pay this debt is to ensure that in the future Ukraine will be able to integrate into the European Union, strengthening our common security,” Pekka Toveri said, adding that this process is already actively pursued at the EU level and may eventually cover NATO or other security agreements. “I don't want to make any assumptions or predictions when this will happen, but I am confident that by working together we will be able to bring this date as close as possible,’ Pekka Toveri added.
Following the sixteenth regular meeting of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee (PAC), a joint statement was adopted.
The complete text of the statement