It is incredibly important for the European Union that Ukraine does not slow down the pace of reforms within the framework of fulfilling the commitments under the Association Agreement during the 2019 election campaign. This was announced during the videoconference from Brussels at the roundtable "Results of the Association Council: Euro-integration agenda for 2019," Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze.

"It is of utmost importance for Ukraine that our pace of reforms does not slow down next year during both presidential and parliamentary election campaigns. We understand the challenges we are facing. But for us, Ukrainians, it is very important amid the elections to the European Parliament, changes of the composition of the European Commission to have a clear understanding of the joint cooperation between EU and Ukraine", the Vice Prime Minister stressed.

According to Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, during the fifth meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council, the Ukrainian side managed to gain the support of the partners to update some of the annexes to the Association Agreement. This need is dictated by amendments to the European Union law and Ukraine's willingness to fulfill its obligations in order to deepen integration into individual EU markets.

"We agreed to determine the further mechanism for updating Annex 27 on energy. This is a key issue. For us, it is important that after carrying out the necessary reforms in Ukraine, we could count on full integration into the EU market in this area ", Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze stressed. She noted that this requires both efforts by the Government, public institutions and enterprises as well as on by the Verkhovna Rada. In addition, the Association Council recognized the aspiration of the Ukrainian side for integration into the digital market of the EU. Ukraine has offered European partners to move in this direction, according to the roadmap for integration into the digital market of the EU. Also, the Vice Prime Minister informed that in early 2019 a mission to assess reforms in the field of telecommunication services will kick its work in Ukraine, the results of which will identify common steps for the implementation of the Association Agreement in the field of digital economy. Ukraine and the EU also identified ways to deepen cooperation in the field of freedom, justice and security.

"This concerns cybersecurity, countering cyber threats and misinformation, developing joint border management. I think that there is a lot of work ahead which involves consolidation of efforts from the Ukrainian side, as well as very serious involvement of the European side ", Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze added.

According to her, Ukraine also has to fulfill its obligations in the customs sphere. For example, the draft Law "On Amendments to the Customs Code of Ukraine regarding the Authorized Economic Operator and Simplifications of Customs Forms" should be adopted, which was registered in the Verkhovna Rada more than a year ago. In addition, there are ongoing discussions on a comprehensive list of requirements from the EU necessary to begin negotiations on the conclusion of an Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA).

The Vice Prime Minister thanked the European partners for the political support of Ukraine, its territorial integrity and sovereignty and she added that there is a clear understanding of the need to restore the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of Ukraine, there is a clear understanding and condemnation of the Russia’s actions  being conducted out in the Azov and  the Black Seas against Ukrainian ships and Ukrainian servicemen.

Morerover, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze  thanked the civil society for this event and highly appreciated its important role in promoting the European integration agenda. For her part, Olga Stefanyshyna, General Director of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration noted that during the Association Council the partners clearly identified the priorities of sectoral cooperation and discussed the issues of joint monitoring of the implementation of the Agreement.