Ukraine was in the European Parliament limelight last week as MEPs, during the plenary session in Strasbourg, ratified two agreements on readmission and a simplified visa regime with Ukraine and adopted a report by Polish MEP Zbigniew Zaleski (EPP-ED) on trade and economic relations with the former Soviet republic.
The agreement on visa changes approved on November 13 (539 in favour, 36 against, 12 abstentions) will allow a fixed price for visas at 35 Euro, and additionally, will waive the visa charge for students, journalists and close relatives. Under the new regulations, the counsul must explain to citizens the reasons if their visa request is denied. The agreement will not apply to citizens of Denmark, Ireland and Great Britain.
The readmission agreement also approved on November 13 identifies concrete criteria on when and how to repatriate persons illegally residing in EU member-countries and Ukraine. These new policies concern Ukrainian citizens and EU member-countries, as well as stateless citizens. The readmission regulations will be enforced after a two-year period of transition and will not apply to Denmark.
Ukraine is very sensitive on the visa issue, especially after several incidents where its citizens were denied visas even though they had received formal invitations from institutions in EU member states.
The ambassador of Ukraine to the EU, Roman Shpek, hailed the approval of the agreements, saying it “indicates a gradual carrying out by the EU of the internal procedures bringing the agreements into force. The Council’s approval of the documents will be the next and final measures from the European side, on the way to taking effect. ”
At the same time, the Ukrainian side has doubts as to the EU capacity to fulfil certain provisions of the agreement on visa facilitation and declarations that constitute its inalienable part. In particular, the ambassador said it concerns the Commission Declaration on the motivation of the decision to refuse a visa and the European Community Declaration on the access of the visa applicants and harmonisation of information on procedures for issuing short-stay visas and documents to be submitted when applying for short-stay visas. According to the Portuguese Presidency, the EU has to pass necessary legislation to implement these declarations.
“Ukraine calls upon the European Union to take necessary steps in order to fully fulfil all the provisions of the agreement on visa facilitation soon. Ukraine is grateful for the EU assistance granted for the implementation of the agreement on readmission and hopes this support will become more efficient and active,” Shpek said in a statement, released to New Europe.
The recent elections in Ukraine, the forthcoming expansion of the Schengen area as well as calls for a three-way dialogue between Ukraine, Russia and the EU on several issues and especially energy, make a good opportunity to launch a discussion upon a future role of Ukraine in the EU.
On November 15, the European Parliament adopted the Zaleski report on trade and economic relations with Ukraine. The report reviews the areas on which MEPs believe work needs to be done, including Ukraine’s accession to the World Trade Organization, the creation of a free trade area with the EU (and Ukraine’s long-term prospects for integration with the EU), energy supplies and relations with Russia.
MEPs noted that they want Ukraine to speed up its accession to the WTO by removing all residual legislative and technical obstacles. They look forward to the creation of an EUUkraine Free Trade Area. However, Ukraine must introduce EU-compatible customs legislation and improve the functioning of its customs service.
The report calls on Ukraine to develop its economic relations with Russia in a way which would not hamper closer integration into the community’s single market. A three-way dialogue between Ukraine, Russia and the EU should be promoted by the Commission, to foster a climate of security and peace in the region. MEPs also hailed the opening of negotiations between Ukraine and EU with a view to concluding a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.
On the crucial issue of energy supplies, the report called for full implementation of the EUUkraine Memorandum of Understanding on Energy Cooperation and stressed the need for a safe, transparent and reliable system of energy transit between Ukraine and the EU.
During the debate of the Zaleski report in Strasbourg the night before, MEPs discussed the need for Ukraine to liberalise its energy market, investing in upgrading its pipelines and nuclear safety. They also mentioned key energy transport projects to the EU like the Odessa-Brody-Plock pipeline. The MEPs also acknowledged the risk of being drawn in to a bilateral dispute between Ukraine and Russia.
MEPs debated the report into the late hours of November 14, stating that the EU considers Ukraine to be a valuable and strategic partner – however, not valuable enough to have a better time slot for the discussion.
Moreover, although trade issues were discussed, Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson was not present and was instead represented by Fisheries and Marinetime Affairs Commissioner Joe Borg – something that drew the attention of the Parliament. As an MEP pointedly told New Europe the following day, “It was like talking about herring.”