Progress and Prospects of EU-Ukraine Association Agreement

1. One Year Later – EU-Ukraine Association Agreement Signed a Year Ago: Progress and Prospects (Harmonization of National Legal System with EU Legislation and Practice) Lana Sinichkina, Partner Tbilisi | 2015

2. Content Tbilisi | 2015

3. 1. Legislative Background Tbilisi | 2015

4. Legislative Background I. EU-Ukraine Association Agreement: II. Action Plan of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement for 2014-2017 III. Coalition Agreement between the parties constituting the majority of Ukrainian Parliament IV. Strategy of Constant Development “Ukraine 2020” approved by the President of Ukraine Tbilisi | 2015

5. Action Plans of Ministries and other State Authorities http://www.kmu.gov.ua/kmu/control/uk/publish/article?art_id=247984208&cat_id=247984327 Tbilisi | 2015

6. Recent developments in Ukraine • April 2014, IMF – US $ 17.01 billion, • February 2015, IMF - economic reform program; • March 2015, IMF – US $ 17.5 billion program; • May 2015, EU – EUR 1,8 billion program under Memorandum of Understanding (Riga); New Government: foreign experts and businessmen Active participation of business organizations in development of Ukraine Financial aid from international organizations and funds Oslo | 2015

7. Financial Aid – Reforms to be made by Ukraine • Deregulation; • Reform of competition policy; • Reform of public finance management system and financial sector; • Anticorruption reform; • Reform of state-owned enterprises; • Reform of public administration; • Reform in energy sector; • Reforms in social sphere; • Judicial reform; • Deregulation; • Reform of tax administration; • Reform of banking sector; • Reform of energy sector; • Transparency and anticorruption reform; • Reform of state-owned enterprises • Deregulation; • Financial sector reform; • Increasing efficiency in the use of public resources; • Anticorruption reform; • Utility and energy sector reform; • Reforms in social sphere Tbilisi | 2015

8. 2. Institutional Changes Tbilisi | 2015

9. New bodies created in order to ensure harmonization Issue of appointing the Vice-Premier Minister on European integration was raised by the President on June 4, 2015 Tbilisi | 2015

10. 3. Reforms Tbilisi | 2015

11. Recent Developments in Ukraine • Judicial Reform • improved order of formation of courts, appointment of judges to administrative positions, optimization of courts; • improvement of the order of formation of the Highest Council of Justice; • clarified and strengthened guarantees of independence and immunity of judges, their rights and obligations, • clear definition of the grounds and procedure for disciplinary proceedings against judges • Strengthening the position of the Supreme Court as a guarantor of unity of the judicial practice • Taxation Reform • Reduction of number of taxes from 22 to 9; • Introduction of electronic administration of VAT; • The convergence of accounting and taxation for income tax; • Reduction of the tax burden on the wage fund; • Alteration of transfer pricing rules; • Specific VAT system in the agricultural sector; • Anticorruption Reform • Criminal liability of legal entities; • Clarification of definition of illegal benefit; • New regulations on gifts; • Legal regulation of whistleblowing; • Introduction of Anti-corruption expertise of legal acts; • Registers of corruption offenders; • Requirements to compliance procedures; • New enforcement agencies: • National anti-corruption agency • National anti-corruption bureau • Specialized anti-corruption prosecutor’s office • Deregulation • Stamping abolishment • Simplification of business launch • Single Window system creation • Reduction of number of licenses/permits • Harmonization of Technical Regulation System with EU regulation Tbilisi | 2015

12. Recent Developments in Ukraine (2) • Decentralization; • Revised public procurement law; • Ongoing public finance management reform; • Laws on standardization and metrology; • Laws on food safety and animal identification and registration; • Amendments to consumer protection legislation; • Agricultural reform; • Criteria for systemically important banks; • Progress on gender equality; • Ratification of eight of the International Labor Organization’s Conventions; Presidential election in May and the parliamentary elections in October 2014 complied with international standards. Tbilisi | 2015

13. 4. Civil Society Initiatives Tbilisi | 2015

14. Key Civil Society Organizations Stronger Together Easy Business Reanimation Package of Reforms ACC EBA Tbilisi | 2015

15. Navigator of Association On-line instrument for monitoring implementation of EU-Ukraine Association Agreement: • Search by numbers, names of legal acts of EU, by topics; • Contains brief description of EU legal acts to be implemented and direct links to EUR-Lex; • Allows to asses the progress of implementation of the EU law http://www.eurointegration.com.ua/navigator/ Tbilisi | 2015

16. 4. Harmonization in Energy Sector Tbilisi | 2015

17. Energy Sphere Reform Reform of Ukrainian legislation in part of energy market reform and increase of energy transparency is important for: • Implementation of the Association Agreement; • Implementation the Protocol on the accession of Ukraine to the Energy Community Treaty; • increase of the energy sector transparency, thus reduction of corruption and liquidation of shadow schemes; • increase of investments in the energy sector, strengthening of energy security. Tbilisi | 2015

18. Measures taken by Ukraine in energy sphere • Appointing Deputy Minister on issues of European integration; • Creation of the Department of European integration within the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry; • Approving the Action Plan on Implementation of the EU Legislation in the Energy Sphere: • Adopting the Law of Ukraine “On natural gas market” № 329-VIII – based on Directive 2009/73/EC – April 9, 2015: • procedures and liability of the State to enhance the security of gas supply in a crisis situation, • the division of market players, • consumer protection. 5) Registering the Draft law of Ukraine “On transparency of mining industry” reg. No. 2591based on EITI requirements at the Parliament – April 7, 2015. Tbilisi | 2015

19. Ukraine – on the way to EITI Draft Law “On transparency of mining industry”: will allow to fulfil the requirements of the EITI – to disclose: • the funds paid by the companies in the field of extraction and transportation of oil and gas to the budgets of different levels; • the income received by the state from the activities of these companies; and • information on their activity and the license holders. Tbilisi | 2015

20. Thank you! Tbilisi | 2015

21. Our contacts Tbilisi | 2015