Ukraine plans to meet the EU's requirements by the end of the year - Stefanishyna
EUROPEAN PRAVDA - WEDNESDAY, 22 JUNE 2022, 16:53
Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, said that Ukraine expects to have implemented the European Commission’s recommendations on EU candidate status by the end of the year.
She stated this on Wednesday at a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine, European Pravda reports, citing Interfax-Ukraine.
"We expect all these steps to be implemented by the end of the year. I think we can implement most of them even faster - those relating to particular legislation and technical tasks," Stefanishyna said.
She reiterated that the European Commission will draft opinions at the end of the year and assess how effectively Ukraine has managed to implement the recommendations.
"This is in our interest, because we want to talk about the start of negotiations," she said, adding that Ukraine "will not give up its EU candidate status to anyone".
Earlier, Stefanishyna noted that by the end of the week, the Ukrainian government will formulate its vision of the reforms needed to meet the European Commission’s requirements in order for Kyiv to retain its EU candidate status - including appointing the head of the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO).
As we know, the European Commission says in its opinion on Ukraine's compliance with the requirements for candidate status that the EU has the right to revoke this status if Ukraine fails to comply with its obligations.
Among other things, in order to maintain its candidate status, Kyiv must complete the appointment of the SAPO head, who has already been selected by tender, hold a tender to select the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), and so on.
As reported, according to a draft decision, EU leaders will approve the European Commission’s recommendation that Ukraine and Moldova be granted candidate status to join the European Union at the summit in Brussels on 23-24 June.
The European Commission released opinions on Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia's bids for EU membership on 17 June, recommending that the former two be granted candidate status.
At the same time, Ukraine has been issued with seven requirements that it must meet in order not to lose its new status and move forward to the next stage of the procedure.
More about this in European Pravda’s video explanation, as well as in the article Candidate in advance: 7 requirements that Ukraine must meet to avoid the EU revoking its new status.
