The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk held a videoconference conversation with Pat Cox, the President of the Jean Monnet Foundation, President of the European Parliament (2002-2004).
First of all, on behalf of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk thanked the Jean Monnet Foundation for the decision to award the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with the Gold Medal.
During the meeting, the parties discussed the launch of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union this year, the agenda of the next Jean Monnet Dialogue, as well as further cooperation between the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the European Parliament.
“It is very important for us to start negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union this year. I believe that this process will be accompanied by a new quality of dialogue between the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine,” said the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, adding that Ukraine has paid great attention to the oral assessment of progress in implementing the seven recommendations for the opening of negotiations made by the European Commission.
“The main priorities of cooperation between the Parliament of Ukraine and the European Parliament are European integration and the process of recovery and reconstruction,” said Ruslan Stefanchuk on the issue of further cooperation with the European Parliament. He noted that the last meeting in the format of the Jean Monnet Dialogues for Peace and Democracy in Lublin in April this year demonstrated extremely productive cooperation.
“Such new formats of cooperation as inter-committee meetings will help to raise awareness of the EU legal framework in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and strengthen the Jean Monnet Dialogues, which have become an important basis for cooperation with the European Parliament,” the Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine said.
For his part, Pat Cox, the President of the European Parliament (2002-2004), expressed his belief that in the future the quality of relations between the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will be unprecedented. “Preparing a meeting of the committees of the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is also unprecedented, as it provides an opportunity for direct contact at this level,” he said.