PRESS RELEASE : President held a meeting on preparing Ukraine for EU membership after obtaining candidate status

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 28 June 2022.

Under the chairmanship of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a meeting was held to prepare our country for future membership in the European Union after obtaining the status of a candidate for EU membership.

The meeting was also attended by Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak and his deputies, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, MPs and government officials, heads of law enforcement and judicial authorities.

The President congratulated the attendees on obtaining the status of a candidate for EU membership and thanked them for the work that has been done to achieve this historic decision.

“But we must not stop. Tasks were set, we gave our people important promises. We do not change this course,” the Head of State stressed.

According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the tasks for all branches of government must be clearly defined in order to move quickly towards full membership in the EU.

Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna noted that a very good sectoral base of relations between our country and the EU has already been developed, which will help pass certain procedures faster.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that the implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU is underway. According to him, the candidate status allows Ukraine to start sectoral negotiations, and today the work is underway in eight areas.

In particular, it concerns the accession to the Convention on the Common Transit Procedure (NCTS) – the so-called customs visa-free regime. At the end of June, the final assessment mission of Ukraine’s readiness to join the NCTS took place online, which provided a positive conclusion. The relevant law is expected to be adopted in the second reading.

Another area is preparation for the signing of the Agreement on Liberalization of Road Transport, which is to take place in the coming days. Due to this, transport permits will not be required for Ukrainian companies.

According to Denys Shmyhal, it is also important to create a common roaming space between Ukraine and the EU. This means that Ukrainians will not pay for roaming in the European Union, and EU citizens will not pay for roaming in Ukraine.

In addition, preparations are underway for our country to join the single zone of payments in euros without a fee, which will be felt by our citizens both domestically and abroad.

The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of integrating Ukraine’s energy system with the energy network of continental Europe, especially in the context of expanding exports, for which a corresponding conclusion has already been obtained.

The conclusion of an agreement on the so-called industrial visa-free regime for opening mutual access to industrial markets, Ukraine’s integration into the EU digital market, joining all European “green course” initiatives are also important.

The President discussed with the participants of the meeting the draft laws for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine identified as a priority for 2022.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba informed about the work with the EU member states to maintain support for Ukraine’s European integration.