Prime Minister: Ukraine plans to launch large-scale cooperation with EU
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Shmygal together with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen opened joint consultations with the Government of Ukraine and the European Commission College in Kyiv on February 2.
As Denis Shmyhal emphasized, over the past year Ukraine has made extraordinary progress in the issue of European integration, as well as in the implementation of related reforms. Accession to ENTSO-E, abolition of quotas and duties on Ukrainian goods, liberalization of transportation, “duty-free”, accession to the “Digital Europe” program, candidate status, hundreds of laws and government acts aimed at rapprochement with the EU.
“To achieve the next European integration steps, we are completing the implementation of the 7 recommendations of the European Commission. We are preparing to present the results at the Ukraine-EU Summit and expect a strong political signal on the approach to the start of the negotiation process on membership,” the Prime Minister said.
The Head of the Ukrainian Government expressed the expectation that in the spring of this year the European Commission will provide a formal assessment of the progress of Ukraine's implementation of the seven recommendations, together with additional proposals, subject to the implementation of which the European Commission will be able to recommend that the European Council start negotiations with Ukraine at the end of 2023.
“Thank you for presenting today an assessment of the level of approximation of Ukrainian legislation to the EU acquis. For our part, we plan to start evaluating the implementation of European rules, directives and norms in Ukrainian legislation. An evaluation will be made for each of the 35 chapters. This assessment will be the basis for the development of the National Program for the adaptation of the legislation of Ukraine to the EU legislation”, - noted Denis Shmyhal.
The Prime Minister also stressed that Ukraine hopes to intensify cooperation on the recovery and transformation of the energy sector. In particular, regarding the issues of expanding the possibilities of importing electricity into Ukraine up to 2 GW and supporting projects for decentralization of the power system.
“For example, to launch a large-scale solar energy production program by Ukrainian households and communities,” the Head of Government said.
In addition, Denis Shmyhal noted the importance of the readiness of the EU leadership to support Ukraine's efforts in the implementation of the Peace Formula initiated by the President of Ukraine. He thanked European partners for his visit to Kiev and for their comprehensive assistance to Ukraine in the war for freedom and independence.
