17 June 2021, 10:56
Experts of the Association4U EU project presented to the Committee the Concept of the draft Law on European Integration
At its meeting on June 16, the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into
the EU considered the Concept of the Draft Law on European Integration.
Experts from the European Union's Association4U project have been
working on this document for several months. Adoption of the draft law
on European integration would create a legal framework for more
effective implementation of the obligations under the Association
Agreement and would promote Ukraine s faster integration into the EU.
Association4U Team Leader Egle Rimkute noted that the Concept had been
created on the initiative of members of the Committee on Ukraine's
Integration into the EU, headed by Dmytro Lyubota. “We have gathered a
large team of experts on European integration - Ukrainian and
international, who for several months worked hard, putting together
ideas on the possible law on European integration. University
representatives were also involved. We have developed the first
proposals of the concept. It will need further discussion”, - Egle
Rimkute said.
Cesar Herma, a key expert of the Association4U project, informed about
the main directions of the Concept. According to him, the future draft
law on European integration should set the legal framework and
politically strengthen the cooperation of state institutions in Ukraine
in the process of European integration. The concept proposes to
institutionalize mechanisms of political cooperation, especially
between the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada. “The most
important novelty of the Concept is the so-called annual cycle of the
European integration course, which should structure a strategic
discussion between the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada once
a year, especially with the participation of the Committee on Ukraine's
integration into the EU, where the Cabinet of Ministers and the
Verkhovna Rada would exchange assessments and priority areas of the
European integration course”, - Cesar Herma said. The key expert of the
project also noted that an important part of the Concept is the
compliance of draft laws with the requirements of the EU law. Both the
Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers already have set
responsibilities and procedures in this direction, but they are not
synchronized. The concept proposes to introduce rules and procedures
that should improve the assessment of compliance of draft laws with the
European Union law.
The Chair of the Committee thanked the Association4U project for its
cooperation and work on the Concept of the future draft law on European
integration. “I believe there are a lot of proposals for elaborating a
comprehensive solution of the problem that we constantly face, and
because of which the legislation approximation is very often
fragmentary at the moment. You suggested the ways to improve it.”, -
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said. The Secretary of the Committee
Valentyn Nalyvaichenko reminded that the members of the Committee had
already prepared a draft Concept of the Committee's work, which
provided for strengthening the coordination, control and other
functions of the Committee on Ukraine's integration into the EU. Ivanna
Klympush-Tsintsadze noted that some of these developments had been used
in the Association4U Concept proposed by the project and called on the
Committee members and project experts to continue working together to
move from the Concept to a draft law on the European integration.