Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in Ukraine Progress in 2014 and recommendations for actions
The 2015 ENP package "Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2014" consists of a joint Communication and a set of country specific and regional reports. The report on Ukraine underlines key developments and reform efforts in 2014 and makes recommendations for the year to come.
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Reforms were carried out in Ukraine in 2014 in a very difficult political, economic, social and military/security context of armed conflicts. Despite these challenges Ukraine continued its democratic transition process and its civil society has been developing quickly.
Ukraine intensified its cooperation with the EU: Ukraine signed the political provisions of the Association Agreement (AA) on 21 March 2014 and the provisions of the remaining parts on 27 June 2014, respectively. On 16 September 2014, the Association Agreement was ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament and consent was given by the European Parliament, enabling the provisional application of the relevant provisions of the Association Agreement as of 1 November 2014 and the DCFTA-part as of 1 January 2016. Ukraine adopted a number of important legislative reforms to address the benchmarks of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan. As a consequence, Ukraine passed to the second phase of the implementation of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan.
Ukraine’s economic output contracted in 2014 as a result of deep-rooted macroeconomic and structural weaknesses. The situation was significantly aggravated by the worsening security situation. Exports to the EU compensated for the decline of Ukrainian trade with the Russian Federation.
Political developments directly affected energy policy. The new government decided in April to revise the energy strategy, as the version published earlier in the year did not adequately meet the challenges faced by the sector. Work on its revision was still ongoing by the end of the year. National action plans on renewable energy and on energy efficiency were drafted and the Energy Community Secretariat was consulted on them. The national renewable energy action plan was adopted. Parliament sent draft legislation on efficient use of fuel energy resources, energy efficiency in buildings and energy service companies back to the relevant ministries for revision, and renewable energy legislation was not amended to bring it into line with Energy Community requirements.
There was no comprehensive policy in Ukraine to prevent and mitigate climate change. Lack of funding remained a major obstacle. EU assistance is provided through the regional Clima East project, in particular for strengthening the capacity of policymakers and for the development of monitoring, reporting and verification capacities and other mitigation policies.Ukraine made generally good progress in implementing its 2010 national environment strategy, for which the EU provided budget support. However, the lack of a law on environmental impact assessments remained a concern, as draft legislation which was introduced in parliament in May, failed to make further progress.
For the first time in Ukraine, a dedicated agency (the E-Governance Agency) was appointed to coordinate information society activities, dealing with policies, legislative reforms and regulations regarding information communication technologies
On research and innovation, the EU-Ukraine cooperation agreement on science andtechnology was renewed in 2014. Ukraine expressed its willingness to take part in the EU-funded 'Horizon 2020' research programme, and a bilateral agreement was successfully negotiated in November 2014 and recently signed. Ukrainian entities participate in several collaborative projects under the 7th EU Research Framework Programme and in the first Calls for Proposals under 'Horizon 2020'. Ukraine is also active in the Eastern Partnership Panel on Research and Innovation.
The law on higher education was adopted in July and came into force in September. In addition, new legislation is envisaged to cover specific sections of the education sector, such as primary, secondary and vocational education.
The full report is available below for download.
On the basis of the Country Progress Report, several actions are recommended to Ukraine for the coming year. Please find the whole list of recommendations in the Ukraine Progress Report here:
http://eeas.europa.eu/enp/pdf/2015/ukraine-enp-report-2015_en.pdf