Euroscope: Monitoring and Assessment of the EU-Ukraine AA implementation and EU acquis alignment progress, February – March

2023-03-29 | Expert publications, EU integration

The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (AA) implementation has intensified across all state institutions since June 17, 2022, when the European Commission recommended that the European Council grants Ukraine candidate status for accession to the EU. Yet, there is a lack of coherence, common vision, and effective strategy: a statement made by the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal on March 6, 2023, suggested that with the appointment of NABU director Ukraine had fulfilled all seven recommendations of the EU. The next day, the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Olha Stefanishyna wrote that the first evaluation of the European Commission would be presented in May: by then, Kyiv should implement most of them. The challenges of Constitutional Court judges’ appointment, the consistency of the anti-oligarch law (opinion is expected in June in the case of Ukraine), and the national minorities’ law implementation remain incomplete.

The EU acquis synchronization in Ukraine will undergo an internal audit by all government authorities by the end of June 2023. The ministries and central executive bodies must submit reports to the Government with specific proposals for the approximation of the sectoral legislation with the EU acquis by the end of August 2023. The public statement of February 28, 2023, by the Cabinet of Ministers potentially limits Ukraine’s civil society in legal terms to formally inquire and receive any current status of the EU acquis alignment in development or already completed by the government authorities before the audit and proposal terms are due.

The potential challenges to good governance and democratic standards will remain the priority focus of the Ukrainian civil society, which will be further monitoring Ukrainian Government’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and inclusivity. The chart below reflects negative, neutral, or positive trends per area of the EU acquis Chapter and the number of new approximating Parliamentary or Government legislative documents assessed during March – February 2023.

Read the full publication here.