EU-Ukraine Summit Will Take Place in 2013 - Catherine Ashton

KYIV, Ukraine, December 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

EU High Representative on Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton communicated the willingness of Brussels to hold EU-Ukraine summit in early 2013. This was stated in the telephone conversation between Catherine Ashton and Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, reported the press service of the Ukrainian government.

Ashton believes that the parties will sign the Association Agreement, including the part on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, at the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2013. A similar statement was made earlier by the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule at the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in Stockholm, Sweden (November 30, 2012).

EU High Representative also informed the head of the Ukrainian government about the European Council on Foreign Relations' conclusions concerning Ukraine. The European Union is committed to assisting Ukraine with economic reforms and democratic transition. It also encourages the European choice of the country, said Ashton over the phone.

Ashton expects Ukraine to successfully carry out the previously agreed upon EU Association Agenda and ensure the reform of the electoral law as well as the judiciary and constitutional reforms. In particular, she welcomed Ukraine's commitments to improve its current electoral system in accordance with the recommendations of the EU representatives. Ashton also reminded that the European Union was ready to assist Ukraine in reforming its judicial system.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov stressed that Ukraine was determined to fulfill the Association Agenda. "We are also ready to launch the new formats of EU-Ukraine dialogue in order to reform the judicial system, improve the electoral legislation and business climate in Ukraine", commented Azarov.

The objective of the Association Agenda is to facilitate finalizing of the Association Agreement (AA) between the EU and Ukraine. AA has reached the final stage of initialing in July 2012, when the sides finished editing and coordinating approvals of the second - economic - part of the AA. The document creates a framework for cooperation and stipulates establishing closer economic, cultural, and social ties, as well as the creation of the free trade zone on the territories of the two entities. Now that the AA has been initialed, it is being translated into 24 languages and prepared for signing and the following ratification.