Ukraine and the EU - Progress and Future Prospects - Events - IIEA - The Institute of International and European Affairs

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About this Event

02 Nov 2011 @ 15:00

You can listen and download the keynote speech in .mp3 format here.

About the Speech:

In a speech to the IIEA on 2 November 2011, Pavlo Klimkin, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, provided members of the Institute with a comrehensive overview of EU-Ukraine relations from the signing of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in 1994 to today.

Mr. Klimkin began by expressing his regret that Ukraine did not sign an accession agreement in the 1990s like other Eastern European states, referring to this as a “missed opportunity”, because the PCA only deals with cooperation and not integration. However he commended the progress that has been made since 2007, when Ukraine and the EU decided to elaborate a new type of agreement based on political association and economic integration. Economic integration involves the incremental extension of all four of the EU’s freedoms to Ukraine, a process that Mr. Klimkin acknowledged would be very difficult because of the fact that the final freedom (movement of people) is so contentious in EU member states.

Mr. Klimkin then explained why Ukraine’s relations with the EU are so important for the country. He pointed out that Ukrainian society is sharply divided between East and West but that support for European integration is one factor that unites almost all Ukrainians. The country’s European perspective enjoys over seventy percent support in all parts of the country, so it is crucial for Ukraine’s sense of purpose and future direction. He added that this high level of support is not about the financial benefits that European integration would bring. Enlargement of the EU is about the reunification of a common history and a common mentality. For Ukraine, integration with the EU is therefore a “civilisational choice”.

Finally, Mr. Klimkin outlined the current state of EU-Ukrainian relations. Negotiations towards an Association Agreement and Free Trade Agreement have been successful and Ukraine’s ambition is to sign these two agreements by the end of 2011. The process of visa liberalisation, which is extremely important for Ukrainians, is also progressing very well. The European Commission recently published a positive report of Ukraine’s implementation of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan and Ukraine hopes to launch the second phase of this Action Plan very soon.

According to Mr. Klimkin, the Ukrainian government understands that future progress in relations with the EU depends on Ukraine. For this reason, Ukraine will continue to implement domestic reforms in order to ensure that EU-Ukrainian relations advance in the future.

About the Speaker:

Pavlo Klimkin is Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Previously, he was Director of the EU Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

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