EU-UKRAINE PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE

The EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee (PCA) is a forum for Members of Ukrainian Parliament and the European Parliament to meet and exchange views. According to the provisions of the Association Agreement, the Committee may request relevant information regarding the implementation of the AA from the Association Council, which shall also inform the Committee about its decisions and recommendations. The PAC may also make recommendations to the Association Council.

The Parliamentary Association Committee is chaired in turn by a representative of the European Parliament and a representative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine respectively. Respectively, the Co-Chairs of the PAC have elected Mr.Ostap Semerak, Member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and Mr.Andrej Plenković, Member of the European People’s Party on behalf of the European Parliament.

On the Association Agreement and the Reform Agenda

1. Believes that the Association Agreement has set a path for further integration of Ukraine towards the EU and that, pursuant to Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, Ukraine has a European perspective and may apply to become a member of the European Union provided it respects the principles of democracy, fundamental freedoms and human and minority rights, ensures the rule of law and adheres to the Copenhagen criteria;
2. Calls upon the Ukrainian authorities to deliver tangible progress in implementing the Association Agreement and to undergo the ambitious but long overdue reforms with great determination and in parallel with the war effort; stresses the need to strengthen the rule of law and to move forward with key constitutional, judicial and social and economic reforms; expresses its gratitude to the European Commission for its support for reforms in Ukraine;
3. Strongly believes that an ambitious anti-corruption programme, including zero tolerance for corruption, is urgently needed; calls on the Ukrainian leadership to eradicate systemic corruption by immediate and effective implementation of the National Strategy against Corruption, and stresses that the fight against this practice must be one of the top priorities of the new government and the subject of political dialogue between Ukraine and the EU, with the involvement of civil society;
4. Believes that civil society organisations, volunteer movements and activists can play an important role in promoting democratic change and respect for human rights; urges the EU to step up its support for civil society and the Ukrainian Government in order to further facilitate the development of civil society organisations as well as regional self-governance reform within the framework of decentralisation, including through educational programmes as a reform promotion tool;
5. Takes note of the EU assessment missions to Ukraine in the framework of the second phase of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP), and acknowledges the determination of the Ukrainian Government to put in place the necessary legislative, policy and institutional framework necessary so as to be granted a visa-free regime with the EU once all the conditions and benchmarks set in the VLAP have been fulfilled;
6. Welcomes the decision of the European Parliament’s Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group to select Ukraine as a priority country for parliamentary capacity-building and dialogue facilitation activities; confirms the mutual commitment of the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada to developing a support programme for the Verkhovna Rada, including the enhancement of the role of the European integration committee in underpinning Ukraine’s pursuit of its comprehensive reform agenda in line with the objectives set out in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement; understands that cooperation with national parliaments of the EU Member States is also envisaged in line with this framework;
7. Underlines that the improvement of the business and investment climate and the introduction of genuine economic reforms are prerequisites for the stabilisation of the economic and social situation in the country and should be conducted with a view to the upcoming application of the DCFTA starting from 1 January 2016; underlines the importance of the development of free and undistorted competition in the Ukrainian market; welcomes the efforts of the European Parliament that allowed timely approval of a decision on the extension of the EU autonomous trade measures providing unilateral tariff preferences for Ukraine until 31 December 2015;
8. Realises that it is highly important to implement structural reforms in Ukraine, to introduce effective stimuli to attract investment in the real economic sector, to create highly productive jobs and to integrate Ukrainian producers into global value-added chains; acknowledges the importance of creating innovation infrastructure and an effective system for intellectual property protection and technology transfer in order to attract R&D centres and production facilities of multi-national corporations;
9. Recalls the substantial financial assistance package provided by the EU and EU based international financial institutions, and welcomes the proposal by the Commission to grant a third package of macro-financial assistance (EUR 1.8 billion) to help the new reform-oriented Ukrainian Government financially and economically; calls for the smooth and fast completion of all legislative procedures in order to launch this new programme without delay; recalls that the EU conditionality in this respect includes judicial reforms and measures to increase transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption;
10. Invites the European Union to step up preparations for the International Conference in support of Ukraine, and the EU Members States, other countries, international financial institutions and investors to take an active part in it;
11. Underlines the importance of further strengthening energy security in Ukraine and Europe as a whole in order to reduce dependence on Russia’s energy resources; underlines the need for a reform of Ukraine’s energy sector and the diversification of energy supplies in line with its Energy Community Commitments, inter alia by creating a market price system; believes that the reform of Ukraine’s energy sector, together with the joint modernisation and exploitation of the Ukrainian gas transit system with the participation of the EU companies, as well as the launch of major reverse gas flows from the EU to Ukraine and the utilisation of existing and future LNG facilities could contribute to this; calls on the EU to continue its active involvement in solving the existing problems with regard to the Russian gas supplies to Ukraine, using the trilateral format European Commission-Ukraine-Russia, in particular on the so-called “summer package”; underlines the need for large-scale energy efficiency modernisation based on the Energy Service Company (ESCO) mechanism;
12. Underlines that the development of people-to-people contacts, providing access for Ukrainian young people to EU education programmes, as well as support for local NGOs, will contribute to the development of civil society in Ukraine and will be crucial for the implementation of reforms.
13. Welcomes the finalisation of negotiations on Ukraine’s associated participation in the EU Programme “Horizon 2020”; calls for a smooth and fast completion of all legislative procedures in order to sign the agreement, which without doubt will boost EU-Ukraine cooperation in the spheres of science, innovation and research;
14. Intends to hold the next meeting of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee in early autumn 2015 in Ukraine.