On 10–11 April, bilateral meetings between delegations from Ukraine and the European Commission took place in Brussels (Belgium) as part of the official screening of Ukrainian legislation’s alignment with EU law under Chapter 29 “Customs Union”, which falls within Cluster 3 “Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth”.

The screening of Ukrainian legislation’s compliance with EU law for Chapter 29 “Customs Union” is one of the most critical stages in the European integration process for Ukrainian customs.

“Last year, we significantly aligned Ukrainian customs legislation with European standards. This enabled our businesses to secure a transitional period before joining the EU Customs Union. The latest assessments for this chapter, including those presented in the European Commission’s 2024 Enlargement Report, show that Ukraine has some of the highest scores in this area. Ukrainian institutions responsible for customs regulation continue their transformation to meet EU standards,” said Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice of Ukraine, who led the Ukrainian negotiating team.

The Ukrainian negotiating group, which included Deputy Minister of Finance for European Integration  , Deputy Head of the State Customs Service Vladyslav Suvorov, Director of the Customs Policy Department at the Ministry of Finance Oleksandr Moskalenko, and other representatives, presented the specifics of Ukrainian customs legislation, the progress of implementing European norms and standards, and the application of mechanisms and tools for customs procedures.

“Ukraine greatly values the support and partnership of the European Commission. A shared vision for developing the customs system, along with comprehensive and structured guidance on the necessary steps for European integration, helps us consistently implement customs reform: step by step, with clear planning and adherence to deadlines. The team representing this area today has already made significant progress toward achieving its goals. However, we are well aware that many challenges lie ahead. Therefore, we must consolidate resources and enhance institutional capacity to effectively continue this reform,” said Yuriy Draganchuk.

Participants identified the primary current tasks as recognising existing challenges on Ukraine’s path to integration into the European customs community and finding effective solutions to overcome them.

“We are ready to adopt the best European practices, remain flexible, and stay open. At the same time, the war has placed us in conditions where security and reliability are among the key priorities. This applies both to businesses, for whom interaction with customs authorities must be transparent and predictable, and to customs service employees, whom the state must provide with decent and stable working conditions. At the same time, here in Brussels, we reiterate: although Ukraine is not entirely a safe zone today, we are doing everything possible to ensure the highest level of security within our capabilities,” emphasised Vladyslav Suvorov, Deputy Head of the State Customs Service.

Matthias Petschke, Director for Customs at the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD), acknowledged the significant progress of Ukrainian customs in European integration and highlighted that digitalisation processes were a catalyst for integrity, a driver of economic development, and a source of additional budget revenues.

Particular attention was drawn to topics related to strategic changes in customs policy that will impact a wide range of stakeholders. The European side stressed the effectiveness of a model where the customs service has law enforcement status: in EU countries, granting customs authorities powers to conduct operational and investigative activities, as well as pre-trial investigations, yields positive results.