On Friday, the Government of Ukraine approved amendments to Annex XVII-3 (Rules applicable to telecommunication services), Annex XVII to the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, creating the legal framework for the internal market regime in the telecommunications services sector, including with regard to roaming in public mobile networks, provided for by the draft decision of the Ukraine-EU Association Committee in Trade Configuration, Taras Melnychuk, a representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, wrote on his Telegram channel.
“We are moving towards Roam like home with the EU. Today, we approved a document that will allow Ukraine to conclude an agreement with the European Union this year,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said, commenting on this decision on his Telegram channel.
At the same time, he said that joining the EU roaming space means not only the abolition of call charges, but also modern, transparent European rules in the field of telecommunications.
It is envisaged that the legislation in the field of telecommunications services in Ukraine, in particular with regard to roaming, will be supplemented taking into account current changes in EU legislation.
As First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko commented on the document, this government decision is one of the stages in the implementation of the updated Priority Action Plan agreed by the Ministry of Economy and the European Commission to strengthen the implementation of the Free Trade Area Agreement. The main focus of this plan is the integration of Ukraine into the internal market of the EU.
“The approval of the decision of the Ukraine-EU Association Committee in Trade Configuration will create conditions for Ukraine to receive an internal market regime in the field of roaming. This year, this area will be a pilot project for the full legal integration of Ukraine into internal European regulation,” the press service of the Ministry of Economy quoted Svyrydenko.
Housing prices in the European Union fell by 1.5% in the fourth quarter of 2022, writes the Financial Times citing the EU statistical service Eurostat.
Housing became cheaper during the quarter for the first time since 2015. Prices fell in 15 of the 27 EU countries amid tightening standards and rising lending costs.
Denmark (6.5 percent) and Germany (5 percent) recorded the largest price declines.
“In the coming quarters, we expect further deterioration in the price dynamics in the housing market,” the newspaper quotes the words of economist Ani Heimann of S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Over time, a lack of investment by construction companies will limit supply and stabilize prices, Heimann believes.
Data on the state of the market in some countries suggest that in early 2023, housing continues to get cheaper, said FT. For example, in the Netherlands, its value decreased by 1.5% in January-February.
The population of EU countries will decrease by 6% by 2100, the EU statistical service Eurostat predicts. From January 1, 2022 to January 1, 2100, the number of residents in the EU will decrease by 27.3 million, to 420 million. At the same time in 2022, the population began to recover after a decline associated with the coronavirus.
According to preliminary data, 451 million people lived in the EU on January 1, 2023, compared to 443.2 million in 2021. Eurostat attributes the increase to the mass influx of Ukrainian refugees.
The maximum population – 453 million people – is expected in 2026.
In 2022-2100, the proportion of residents aged 0 to 19 years will decrease from 20% to 18%, and from 20 to 64 years – from 59% to 50%. The shares of residents aged 65-79 and older will increase from 15% to 17% and from 6% to 15%, respectively.
Preliminary data of the census for 2021 indicate an increase of the population compared to 2011 in 16 EU countries and a decrease – in 9. The most significant increase for 10 years showed Luxembourg (26%), Malta (24%) and Sweden (10%), reduction – Bulgaria (11%), Croatia (10%), Latvia (9%) and Lithuania (8%).
The leaders in the number of inhabitants in 2021 were Germany (83.2 million), France (67.9 million), Italy (59 million), Spain (47.4 million) and Poland (37 million).
European Union leaders say they will continue to fully support Ukraine by providing political, economic, military, financial and humanitarian aid for as long as needed.
This is the case in the conclusions on Ukraine adopted at a European Council meeting Thursday in Brussels.
“The European Union firmly and fully supports Ukraine and will continue to provide strong political, economic, military, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine and its people for as long as necessary. The European Union and member states will intensify their efforts to help meet Ukraine’s urgent military and defense needs,” the document said.
In addition, the findings state that the European Union remains committed to supporting Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction in coordination with international partners. “In this context, the European Council reiterates the EU’s full support for the establishment of an international mechanism to record the damage caused by Russia. Together with partners, the European Union will continue to step up efforts to use frozen and immobilized Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine and to make reparations in accordance with EU law and international law,” the text said.
EU leaders also welcomed Ukraine’s commitment and efforts to implement reforms and underlined the importance of Ukraine’s accession process in line with its earlier conclusions, in particular those of June 23-24, 2022.
The agreement between Ukraine and the EU on the liberalization of cargo transportation has been prolonged until 30 June 2024. The document, signed in June 2022, removes the need for Ukrainian carriers to obtain permits for bilateral and transit traffic to EU countries.
According to Deputy Prime Minister – the head of the Ministry of Transport Oleksandr Kubrakov in Facebook, the relevant agreement was reached at the first meeting of the joint committee of the Agreement on freight transport by road.
“During the first year the agreement has proved its practical effectiveness. For the period of its validity, the volume of bilateral and transit road freight traffic has increased by more than 50%,” he noted.
After the agreement was signed on June 29, 2022, the number of carriers crossing the border toward the EU increased by 53% compared to the same period in 2021, and the number of crossings itself increased by 43%.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted the potential for further growth, in particular through the joint development with European partners of the necessary logistical infrastructure at the border. He reminded that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, two new checkpoints have been opened on the Romanian border, as well as a control point on the temporary infrastructure for empty trucks at the border with Poland. In addition, the capacity of the Krakivets-Korcheva checkpoint was expanded and the operation of the Jagodin-Dorogusk checkpoint on the border with Poland was streamlined.
“The effective implementation of the “transport visa-free” brings us closer to our main foreign policy goal – gaining EU membership,” Kubrakov stressed.
Deputy Prime Minister reminded that the agreement also simplifies the procedure of recognition of driving documents: Ukraine and the EU have exempted holders of driving licenses issued by one of the parties from the requirement to have an international driving license.
The European Parliament adopted updated EU regulations on the allocation of efforts to reduce the maximum allowable level of greenhouse gas emissions in member states at a plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
The bill was approved by 486 votes, with 132 against and 10 abstentions.
The said novelty establishes mandatory annual greenhouse gas emission reductions for motor vehicles, building heating, agriculture, small industrial plants and waste management for each EU member state.
“The revised law increases the 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction target at the EU level from 30 percent to 40 percent from 2005 levels. For the first time, all EU countries must now reduce greenhouse gas emissions with targets ranging from 10% to 50%,” according to the European Parliament’s communiqué on the vote.
The document explains that the 2030 targets for each member state are based on GDP per capita and economic efficiency indicators. EU countries will have to ensure that they do not exceed their annual quotas on greenhouse gas emissions every year.
In addition, the updated regulation includes “limits on the ability to trade, borrow and save emissions.”
“There are limits on how much emissions member states can save in previous years, borrow from future years, and how much they can trade allowances with other member states,” the European Parliament explained.
The text of the new law must now be formally approved by the EU Council, after which it will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force in 20 days.
