Members of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU, European parliamentarians took part in the meeting of the Parliamentary Association Committee on December 7. The parties discussed relations between Ukraine and the EU, in particular, their parliamentary dimension, Ukraine's implementation of the Association Agreement with the European Union and reform priorities. The situation in Crimea and Donbas was also on the agenda.
Co-chair of the Parliamentary Association Committee Vadym Halaichuk noted the importance of the Ukraine-EU summit, which took place in October and at which Ukraine received approval from European partners for its intentions to fully integrate into the EU.
Vadym Halaichuk also noted that next year Ukraine will use all opportunities to renew the trade part of the Association Agreement with the EU. The Co-chair of the Parliamentary Association Committee informed that the MPs are preparing a number of important bills that will significantly help Ukraine to fulfill its obligations under the Association Agreement.
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna analyzed how Ukraine has made progress in implementing the Association Agreement. She informed that the Government and the Parliament are intensifying their efforts to join Ukraine in the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA) – the so-called ‘industrial visa-free regime’ with the EU. Olha Stefanishyna noted that despite the challenges, the Verkhovna Rada was able to pass important laws aimed at implementing the Association Agreement. These are, in particular, Laws on amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine and the Law on inland waterway transport.
Ukraine's progress in implementing some reforms was also noted by Luke Devin, Executive Director of the European External Action Service for Europe and Central Asia. He stated that Ukraine has successfully coped with decentralization and launched land reform. However, Luke Devin also stressed the negative trends observed by the EU in Ukraine. In particular, the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to abolish criminal liability for false declarations.
The judiciary, according to Luke Devin, remains an extremely important area for reform in Ukraine. He stressed that the EU calls on the Government and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to promptly restore anti-corruption legislation. Also, according to Luke Devin, there are still many challenges in Ukraine related to the fight against corruption.
Deputy Director General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), Head of SGUA Kateryna Maternova noted the need to restore anti-corruption legislation in the structure of the general reform of the justice system in Ukraine. According to her, this would make Ukraine stronger against both external and internal threats.
Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on European Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsyntsadze noted that despite some positive changes, in particular, legislative ones, which have been achieved in the implementation of the Agreement, the pace of its implementation has slowed down over the past year.  In 2020, Ukraine fulfilled the Agreement by only 30%.
“We are concerned that the reform of the judiciary is stuck and that the decisions of the Constitutional Court have hit the anti-corruption bodies. Much needs to be done now to ensure the independence of our basic institutions, such as the National Bank or the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine,” noted Ivanna Klympush-Tsyntsadze.
Also, during the meeting, the Ukrainian side informed the MEPs about the numerous violations of the regime of silence by the occupiers in Donbas and about Russia's violations of human rights in Crimea and the militarization of the peninsula. MP Rustam Umerov acquainted the participants of the dialogue with the plans of the newly created inter-factional deputy association ‘Crimea Platform’, the purpose of which is to create an international platform for the deoccupation of Crimea.
This format, according to Umerov, covers several levels - the first - political, which will be joined by heads of foreign states and governments; second level - heads of foreign ministries and defense ministers; the third is the inter-parliamentary level, and the fourth is the level of experts and civil society. The first summit of the Crimea Platform may take place next year.
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