On 11 and 12 November, the delegation of Ukraine is taking part in bilateral meetings with the European Commission in Luxembourg as part of the official screening of the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law. Such meetings are part of the negotiation process for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.

The meetings are dedicated to the negotiated Chapter 18 – Statistics. This chapter is the final one in the cluster of issues included in Cluster 1 – Fundamentals of the EU accession process, which is considered to be crucial throughout the accession negotiations. The meetings are held in a hybrid format.

“Statistics are the basis for making informed decisions at both national and international levels. For Ukraine, which seeks to become a full-fledged part of the European community, the development of its statistical system and its harmonisation with European standards is not just a technical issue, but a step towards deeper mutual understanding, trust and strategic partnership with the EU. For the European community, access to reliable and up-to-date data on Ukraine will allow it to better assess the potential of our cooperation and joint development,” said Ukraine’s chief negotiator Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice of Ukraine, participating in the meetings online.

She noted that, despite the ongoing full-scale war, Ukrainian statistics continued to undergo qualitative transformations to adapt to EU standards.

According to her, Ukraine is awaiting the European Commission’s report on the Cluster 1 screening: “We remain committed to fundamental transformations, strengthening democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine, look forward to the next steps to implement the European Commission’s recommendation to open the first cluster in 2025, and are ready to work dynamically to achieve our common goal.”

The Deputy Prime Minister also expressed her gratitude to the European partners for their daily fruitful cooperation and for providing all the necessary support on the path of Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

During the bilateral meeting between Ukraine and the EU on Chapter 18 – Statistics, the Ukrainian delegation will present the state of implementation of Ukraine’s official statistics legislation with EU law, the institutional structure and administrative capacity of official statistics producers, future plans for harmonisation of official statistics legislation, as well as the main challenges facing the national statistical system of Ukraine.

The delegation will present reports covering the following issues:

• Legal framework (statistical legislation), institutional framework and administrative capacity, including the fight against corruption;
• Quality of statistical data;
• Statistical infrastructure and methodology;
• Economic statistics;
• Sectoral statistics;
• Environmental statistics;
• Intersectoral statistics;
• Demographic and social statistics.

The delegation includes representatives of the State Statistics Service, the National Bank of Ukraine and the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.