A report produced by the European External Action Service and the European Commission highlights that Ukraine has pursued a number of reforms identified in its Association Agenda in 2017, with several significant successes. However, “Progress in other areas has been less forthcoming, with accelerated implementation needed to bring about real change for the Ukrainian people,” the EU said.
EU High Representative Federica Mogherini noted that, since last year, the EU has seen a number of long-awaited achievements, as the Association Agreement entered into force and Ukrainian citizens were granted visa-free travel for short-stay visits to the Schengen area. “We now expect the implementation of reforms to be accelerated so that Ukrainian citizens can fully reap the benefits of our partnership,” she said. “Ukraine can count on the European Union’s continued support in order to make this possible.”
“We are at times critical, and we insist on certain conditions, yet we are aware of how much Ukraine has already changed, with much more having been achieved in the past three years than in the decades before that, and under very challenging circumstances,” said Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn. “The European Union will stick with Ukraine,” he added.
According to the EU, the 2nd Joint Association Implementation Report on Ukraine, which has been published ahead of the EU-Ukraine Association Council on 8 December 2017, sets out the state of play of Ukraine’s commitment under the Association Agreement since the last meeting of the Association Council in December 2016. It focuses on key developments and reforms undertaken in line with the strategic priorities agreed between the EU and Ukraine.
