The Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the European Union held an on-site meeting in Uzhhorod with the participation of the EU Advisory Mission
17 September 2021, 15:00
On September 15, members of the Committee on Ukraine’s EU Integration visited
checkpoints on Ukraine’s border with neighboring countries to find out what key
and systemic issues need Parliament’s intervention.
On September 16, the Committee held a field meeting in Uzhhorod with the
participation of the EU Advisory Mission, representatives of the State Border
Guard Service, the State Customs Service and local authorities. The
participants of the meeting discussed the issues of capacity and infrastructure
of checkpoints, prevention of smuggling and corruption; reforming the customs
system in accordance with EU norms, NCTS; use of scanners to check the load.
During the meeting it was noted that Transcarpathia borders with 4 countries -
Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Romania. For more than a decade, no new
checkpoints have been opened in the Zakarpattia region. A significant number of
checkpoints operate at the limit of the design capacity or even with its
excess.
Local authorities, the State Border Guard Service and the State Customs Service
agree that the existing checkpoints need to be upgraded, modern information
technologies introduced to reduce the time of customs and border procedures,
increase security, improve comfort for citizens crossing the border and help
Ukrainian and European businesses.
Following the visit of the Committee to the Zakarpattia region, the briefing
was held at the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration.
