On Tuesday, 27 August, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a resolution that provides for the establishment of an Interagency Working Group to support the negotiation process on Ukraine's accession to the European Union and the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law, as well as the creation of 36 working (negotiation) groups to prepare Ukraine's negotiating positions on the relevant sections of the EU negotiating framework.

"We have already started the next stage on our way to membership, namely bilateral meetings within the framework of the official screening. Effective coordination is a key tool in ensuring effective negotiations with the EU. We are building a negotiation architecture to enable every detail of the complex and bureaucratic mechanism to work clearly and smoothly," said Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, commenting on the Government's decision.

The list of authorities, institutions and agencies whose representatives are members of each of the working (negotiation) groups has been approved. It is also envisaged that the groups will include MPs, as well as representatives of civil society, the business community and academics. Each group will work on specific issues within the competence of their respective groups.

"Our goal is to ensure coordinated work between all participants in the negotiation process. This is important in the context of the official screening of the compliance of national legislation with EU law, and subsequently for the development of negotiating positions and other necessary documents,’ the Deputy Prime Minister said.

The Interagency Working Group, established by the Resolution, will become a coordinating body that will ensure the integrity and coherence of the negotiation process on Ukraine's path to EU membership. The Interagency Working Group is chaired by Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

In accordance with the Regulation on the Interagency Working Group, its tasks include, inter alia:

• facilitating preparations for negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union, in particular through the consolidated formation of Ukraine's negotiating position by the legislative and executive authorities
• identifying ways, mechanisms and means of resolving problematic issues that arise in the course of formulating Ukraine's negotiating position;
• planning, monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation of recommendations contained in the decisions adopted by the European Commission on Ukraine.