Based on the findings of the European Commission’s report on Ukraine, each ministry should prepare a plan to implement the recommendations for reform in their respective areas. This was discussed at a meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna with deputy ministers responsible for European integration and attended by representatives of the European Commission and the EU Delegation to Ukraine.

“Less than a week after the publication of the European Commission’s report, we are holding a meeting on the next years with the participation of all ministries and the European Commission delegation. We are getting used to the negotiation process – in particular, today we will communicate in English,” said Olha Stefanishyna.

The participants of the meeting discussed priority measures to implement the recommendations of the European Commission presented in the report, as well as preparations for the negotiation process on Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

“It was extremely important for all of us, politicians and people of Ukraine, to hear that the European Commission has decided to recommend the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU. This assessment is a clear recognition of the efforts of Ukraine and our team on the path of European integration,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

The official informed that Ukraine had completed the process of self-screening on the state of implementation of EU legislation.

“As part of the self-screening process, which lasted more than six months, we analysed more than 28,000 pieces of EU acquis, with more than 80 government agencies involved in the process. Based on the materials for each individual section of the acquis, we prepared a report identifying the priority acts to be transposed into Ukrainian legislation. To date, there are about 3,000 such acts. We are currently translating the report into English and will soon be able to submit it officially to the European Commission. We hope that this report will become an important tool during the official EU screening process,” said Oleksandr Ilkov, Director General of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

For her part, Anna Jarosz-Friis, Acting Director of the Ukraine Service in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), confirmed that the EU was ready to start the official screening of Ukrainian legislation as soon as possible.

Following the meeting, Olha Stefanishyna instructed the deputy ministers to prepare an action plan on the list of reforms to be carried out in order to implement the report.

“The European Commission’s report on Ukraine’s progress within the EU enlargement package, the action plan to be adopted to implement the reform recommendations contained in the report, and the National Programme for the Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to the EU Acquis are the key documents that will shape the reform agenda in Ukraine,” she stressed.