On Monday, 27 January, bilateral sessions between Ukraine and the European Commission started in Brussels, Belgium, as part of the screening of the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law under Section 8 Competition Policy, which belongs to Cluster 2 on Internal Market.
Over the course of three days, from 27 to 29 January, the Ukrainian delegation, led by the Chief Negotiator, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna, has been presenting the progress of implementation of EU law in the areas of antitrust, merger control and state aid.
In her speech, Olha Stefanishyna underlined that Ukraine continues to reform its competition law to ensure transparency and efficiency of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, which contributes to its approximation to European standards.
She noted the importance of developing a roadmap to lift the temporary restrictions imposed during martial law. After completion of the Cluster 2 screening, Ukraine will present this roadmap and relevant legislative proposals for consideration by the Parliament. In particular, the discussion focused on the Law of Ukraine "On State Aid to Business Entities", as well as the implementation of other commitments under the Ukraine Facility:
"We reaffirm our commitments and our determination to fulfil them. The key to restoring control over state aid and harmonising legislation is to ensure fair access to public resources. We have already made significant progress in this area and understand that special procedures may need to be introduced to manage state aid during martial law. While this issue is not regulated by EU law, it should be addressed at the level of the Ukrainian Government to ensure that processes are clear and transparent in the current circumstances."
During the screening meetings, the Ukrainian delegation will present the general legal and institutional framework of competition policy and antitrust legislation of the country, the specifics of the functioning of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, as well as future plans for harmonisation in this area.
The event is attended by the management and experts of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, the Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine, the Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, the Director General of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, members of the Ukrainian Parliament and representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.