Ukraine Is Dissatisfied with the EU Association Agreement

• 06.24.2017, 20:56
•  Europe,  World

capital.ua

The Supreme Rada of Ukraine has appealed to the European Parliament with the issue of granting additional privileges for products produced in Ukraine. In a statement addressed to the European Parliament, Ukrainian MPs pointed out that such commercial privileges would first of all be an important signal of political solidarity between the European Union and Ukraine. The European Parliament has not yet responded to this initiative of Ukrainian lawmakers, but most probably the response will not be a positive one. Earlier, the European Parliament voted to raise tariff quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products, envisaging some exceptions. However, Ukraine was dissatisfied even with this decision of Brussels.

"The economic part of the Association Agreement is extremely discriminatory for Ukraine. The Free Trade Zone provides mutual recognition of standards and certifications, but according to the Association Agreement, the EU does not recognize Ukrainian standards and certifications. So no-tariff barriers have not disappeared at all,'' economist Vsevolod Stepanyuk said, adding that the EU does not recognize Ukrainian standards not because they are bad, but rather because Europeans do not want to invest in their adaptation, and the Ukrainians do not have means for that.

However, it is worth noting that Europeans are in turn dissatisfied with the Association Agreement. It should be recalled that in March the EU transferred to Ukraine another tranche of macro-financial aid at the amount of 600 million euros, although the provision of these resources was initially connected with the ban on export of timber from Ukraine, and the Ukrainian lawmakers boycotted the initiatives. In Brussels, they announced that they would not provide financial assistance to Kiyev unless the export ban on timber had been abolished. Ukrainian President Poroshenko promised to settle the issue. Brussels, as a result, transfered the money, but Ukrainians not only banned the export of timber, but also adopted a law of extending the scrap metal export fees, although there was an agreement with the EU to eliminate them.

"While the EU opens great opportunities for Ukraine, expanding its range of goods without quotas, Ukraine, in turn, does not properly fulfill its commitments," said David Stoolik, the spokesman for the EU Representatives in Ukraine.

Thus, despite the positive developments in Ukraine's European integration, there are deep disagreements between the parties, overcoming of which will be rather complicated for Ukraine, a country that is already exhausted by its domestic political instability.