The questionnaire on accession to the European Union, which the head of the European Commission Ursula von del Leyen handed over to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during her visit to Kyiv on April 9, has been completed, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Igor Zhovkva said.
“As the president promised to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, when she visited Ukraine on April 9, the Ukrainian side will fill out a questionnaire. A week has passed today. And today I can state that the document has been completed by the Ukrainian side,” Zhovkva said on the air of a nationwide telethon in Sunday.
According to him, after receiving the completed questionnaire, the European Commission will prepare a recommendation on Ukraine’s fulfillment of the Copenhagen criteria for joining the EU. Ukraine, in turn, expects to receive the status of a candidate country for EU accession as early as June this year.
“We expect that the recommendation will be positive, and then the ball will be on the side of the EU member states. In June there will be a meeting of the European Council, where we expect Ukraine to be granted the status of a candidate country for EU membership … Next, accession negotiations should begin. And, when we will hold such negotiations, it will be possible to talk about full-fledged membership of Ukraine in the EU,” he said.
“We are talking about an accelerated procedure. We cannot afford 10-15-20 years of such negotiations. Negotiations must be held quickly. Ukraine deserves it, and most EU member states support us in this,” Zhovkva added.
The European Union will make every effort to support the energy sector of Ukraine, primarily to provide fuel to its agricultural sector in order to avoid a food crisis, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson assured. “We will support Ukraine in terms of energy. There are many sectors that need support, for example, the agricultural sector. This is very important for Ukrainian farmers. Also, the importance of this issue lies in the fact that African and Middle Eastern countries depend on the state of the agricultural sector in Ukraine. Therefore, we will do everything to supply fuel here to support your economy so that it does not suffer more,” Simson said on the air of the nationwide UA telethon on Monday. She stressed that the EU countries really want to help Ukraine with fuel supplies, including providing funding, but for this, important logistics issues need to be resolved right now. At the same time, Simson pointed out that the EU, dependent on Russian gas, has already done a lot to strengthen its independence from Russian energy carriers, and continues to do so, and takes into account the interests of Ukraine in the search for alternative options. “The European Commission advises all EU members to intensify work to increase their own energy independence, we are looking for alternative directions for the supply of energy carriers for our countries. These are, for example, Azerbaijan, other countries. The world has not come together in Russia,” the European Commissioner noted. “When we discuss this issue with our suppliers, partners, we always take into account the interests of Ukraine,” she stressed.
Moldova is applying for membership in the European Union, the country’s President Maia Sandu told a briefing in Chisinau on Thursday evening.
The application to the president of the European Council, French President Emmanuel Macron, will be filed in Brussels in the next few days, she said.
“This is the will our citizens expressed during elections. In the current complex situation we must act quickly and coherently so as to ensure a European, free and democratic future for our citizens,” Sandu said.
She signed the application in front of journalists. It was also signed by parliamentary speaker Igor Grosu and Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita.
On February 17, 2022, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law on ratification of the agreement between Ukraine and the European Union on the Common Aviation Area.
Some 311 deputies voted for the ratification of the agreement on Thursday.
The purpose of the agreement is the gradual creation of a Common Aviation Area between Ukraine and the EU and its Member States, based, in particular, on identical rules in the field of flight safety, aviation security, air traffic management, environmental protection, consumer protection, computer reservation systems, as well as on identical rules regarding social aspects.
To this end, the agreement establishes mandatory rules, technical requirements, administrative procedures, basic operational standards and implementation standards applied between the parties.
Common Aviation Area operates on the basis of free access to the air transportation market and on equal terms of competition.
Ukraine is taking the necessary measures to incorporate into the legal system of Ukraine and implement the requirements and standards of the acts of the European Union.
The parties cooperate, among other things, in order to achieve convergence of certification systems in the areas of primary certification and maintaining airworthiness.
Upon request, the Parties shall provide each other with all necessary assistance to prevent acts of illegal seizure of civil aircraft and other illegal acts directed against the safety of such aircraft, their passengers and crew, airports and air navigation facilities, as well as any other threat to the safety of civil aviation.
The Parties recognize the importance of environmental protection in the development and implementation of aviation policy.
As reported, on October 12, 2021, Ukraine and the European Union signed the Common Aviation Area Agreement. On June 28, 2021, the EU Council approved the signing of the Common Aviation Area Agreement with Ukraine, as well as with three other countries – Armenia, Tunisia and Qatar.
The process of harmonization of the Ukrainian aviation space with the EU was started in 1999. On December 12, 2006, the EU Council authorized the European Commission to start relevant negotiations with Ukraine. In October 2013, the text of the Agreement was agreed upon by the parties, but due to foreign policy conditions, its signing was postponed indefinitely.
The ambassadors of the European Union have excluded Ukraine from the list of countries for which it is recommended to lift the restrictive measures imposed on unnecessary travel to the EU due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This decision was made on Friday in Brussels, diplomatic sources reported to Interfax-Ukraine.
The official decision will be announced next week. It was adopted in connection with the increase in the incidence of coronavirus in Ukraine. The country was included in the list, which is reviewed every two weeks, on 15 July.
As previously reported, on 30 June 2020, the Council adopted a recommendation to gradually remove temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU. This recommendation included an initial list of countries for which Member States can remove travel restrictions at external borders.
On May 20, the Council adopted a recommendation to amend in response to ongoing vaccination campaigns by introducing certain exemptions for vaccinated persons and relaxing the criteria for lifting restrictions for third countries. At the same time, the amendments take into account the possible risks associated with new options, establishing an emergency braking mechanism that allows to quickly respond to the emergence of a new option or deterioration of the situation in a third country.
The Council’s recommendation is not a legally binding document. The authorities of the member countries remain responsible for their implementation.
The European Union has invited the Ukrainian government to determine specific targets for achieving climate neutrality by 2050, 10 years ahead of schedule.
“The EU welcomes the submission of an updated NDC with increased ambition and encouraged Ukraine to continue developing concrete milestones to achieve Ukraine’s climate neutrality by 2050 and to align its sectoral strategies with that objective,” a press release by the EU Delegation to Ukraine, following the second meeting of the working group within the framework of the dialogue on Green Deal between Ukraine and the EU, reads.
The EU reiterated the need for Ukraine to pursue reforms, and strengthen administrative capacities to implement the commitments of enhanced NDC and possibly achieve additional emission reductions.
“The EU underlined the need for rapid adoption, implementation and enforcement of Ukraine’s key environmental legislation (Waste management, Industrial Emissions, Environmental Control, Emerald network) and of the National Forest management Strategy,” the message says.
Deputy Director General NEAR and Head of the Support Group for Ukraine (SGUA) Katarína Mathernová signalled EU’s readiness to support further Ukrainian efforts, including through financial assistance, for setting up a robust Ukrainian climate governance based on long-term climate neutrality objectives which would guide policies and the “whole-of-the-economy” green transition.
As reported, in accordance with NDC, Ukraine should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 65% of the 1990 level by 2030, and achieve climate neutrality by 2060. Such goals were set and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers decree of July 30, 2021.
