European Union law is now becoming part of everyday life. This was stated by Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice of Ukraine, in her welcoming speech at the opening of the roundtable “Examination of draft legal acts of Ukraine for their compliance with EU law”.

She expressed her gratitude to the representatives of the academic community for their continued support and cooperation on Ukraine’s path to EU membership.

“It is a great honour for me that today’s discussion is dedicated to the issue of European integration. Today we are no longer talking about theory, but about the practical implementation of our European aspirations: all political decisions have been made for Ukraine to become a member of the European Union. We are currently negotiating the structure, conditions and format of our membership. A significant part of this dialogue is the legal aspect. The issue of EU law is now not only a subject of study, analysis, and implementation of the best European and global practices, but it is already part of our everyday life,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

According to her, Ukraine and the European Union are already closely linked, in particular, through integration into the common market, trade and customs liberalisation. As a result of the full-scale war, more than 4 million Ukrainian citizens have temporary protection in the EU, which also significantly enhances cooperation in the legal field.

“The functioning of these policies, building the capacity of the Ukrainian authorities to ensure financial stability, institutional resilience, and protect the rights of citizens are inextricably linked to European regulation,” Olha Stefanishyna emphasised.

According to her, in the context of the ongoing EU accession negotiations, one of the key tasks that Ukraine needs to fulfil is the recognition and adoption of EU law, in particular in the form of decisions taken by European institutions and the case law of the EU Court.

“The Ministry of Justice, as one of the main negotiators on systemic issues related to membership, is currently working on amendments to legislation and future amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine related to Ukraine’s membership in the EU. This will have a direct impact on the judiciary and, accordingly, on the regulation of the Parliament’s work, as well as on the role of the Government and lawmaking in general. There is a lot of room for our work. In early 2025, we expect to launch roadmaps regulating the rule of law and the functioning of democratic institutions. I hope for support and close cooperation with the academic community, which is already an active participant in the European integration processes of our country,” Olha Stefanishyna said.

The roundtable participants made presentations on the following topics:

• Participation in the bilateral meeting with the EC within the negotiating section “Functioning of democratic institutions”.
• Processes and procedures of Europeanisation of the Ukrainian legal system.
• Institutional capacity for compliance with EU legislation.
• Peculiarities of conducting an expert examination of draft laws for compliance with international obligations in the field of European integration and EU law.
• Application of EU law in terms of improving national judicial proceedings.
• Peculiarities of the procedure for consideration of European integration bills in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The event was organised by the Scientific Advisory Council under the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Institute of Lawmaking and Scientific and Legal Expertise of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.