Ukraine, EU Finalize Free Trade Agreement Text

KYIV, Ukraine, July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Ukraine and the EU finished editing and coordinating approvals of the second - economic - part of the Association Agreement between the parties. They completed technical and legal work on the section of the document that regulates the introduction of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area by the signees, according to the EU Trade Spokesman John Clancy's statement made for ukrinform.ua.

The agreement will be initialed in Brussels on July 19^th, 2012, said Clancy. The next stage is translation of the document in official EU languages (23) and other technical processes that prepare the document for signing. "The decision on whether to sign the Agreement will depend on the political situation in the country," mentioned Clancy.

"Once this part of the agreement is initialed, the basis for the Free Trade Area formation between Ukraine and the EU may be considered to have been formed," said Maria Yurikova, Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Ukraine on July 12, 2012.

In March 2012, Ukraine and the EU initialed the select pages of the political and economic parts of the Association Agreement. The introduction of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area comprises the economic part of the document.

The Association Agreement creates a framework for cooperation and stipulates establishing closer economic, cultural, and social ties between the signees. The 170 page political part of the agreement regulates Ukraine - EU relations on the political level.

The economic part of the Association Agreement concerns the introduction of the free trade and covers all trade-related issues. It regulates the questions of competition, customs, energy, intellectual property, public procurement, services, and sustainable development. The provisions are set to improve investment climate in Ukraine and help develop business cooperation between the two regions.

"The EU believes that closer economic integration (in the overall context of a political association) can be a key factor in economic growth for Ukraine," states ec.europa.eu. In 2011, the volume of Ukraine-EU trade constituted USD 44 billion, reported the Chairman of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Ihor Kaletnyk in March of 2012.

After 21 rounds of negotiations over the Association Agreement, Ukraine and the EU finalized the negotiating process on December 19, 2011. Association talks between Ukraine and the EU started on March 5, 2007.