European Commission President Eager to Sign EU-Ukraine Association

KYIV, Ukraine, July 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

It would be great for the Association Agreement with Ukraine to be signed at the EU summit in Lithuania, held in November, stated José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, in an interview with the Polish TVP channel. He expressed support of closer links to Ukraine in order to proceed with the economic integration and political association. He also encouraged the EU to support Ukrainians in the reforms needed for the purpose of European integration.

The prospective AAs with Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, and Moldova would represent the consolidation of democracy, the rule of law and common values in the wider European continent, stated Barroso on July 11, 2013, following his meeting with Bronisław Komorowski, President of Poland.

Barroso highlighted the importance of Ukraine in the Eastern Partnership of the EU and "for the overall process regarding political association and economic integration of the European Union with its neighbours." He also expressed hope that the Ukrainian authorities would implement the benchmarks to enable the AA signing by the time of the Vilnius Summit. "I am well aware of the aspiration, the European aspiration of the citizens of Ukraine," he added.

In order to sign the AA with Ukraine at the November Eastern Partnership summit, the EU expects the Eastern European country to eliminate selective justice and implement reforms, pre-agreed in the 2009 Association Agenda. Those reforms include strengthening democratic principles, the rule of law and good governance, human rights and fundamental freedoms, combating corruption, disarmament, cooperation in addressing common security threats, economic and energy reforms, etc.

So far, Ukraine succeeded in introducing new anti-corruption legislation, ridding itself of obsolete munition, initiating reforms of health care, public service, energy, and other sectors. In March 2013, European Commission marked Ukraine's progress in the reform process. Among the achievements, Ukraine started reforming its legal and judicial systems: the new Criminal Procedure Code and other important legislation entered into force, reads European Neighborhood Policy Country Progress Report 2012.

Most recently, in June 2013, Ukraine made it out of the blacklist of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control. This was one of the EU requirements for the country, according to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.