A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part | |
|---|---|
 European Union
Ukraine
United Kingdom (former EU member, agreement applied until 31 December 2020) | |
| Type | European Union Association Agreement |
| Context | Framework for cooperation between the EU and a non-EU country |
| Drafted | 30 March 2012 |
| Signed | 21 March 2014 (Preamble, Article 1, Titles I, II & VII)[1] 27 June 2014 (Titles III, IV, V & VI, related Annexes and Protocols)[1] |
| Location | Brussels, Belgium[1][2] |
| Effective | 1 September 2017[3] |
| Condition | Ratification by all signatories |
| Provisional application | 1 November 2014 (Titles III, V, VI, & VII to the extent it is EU competence)[1][4][5] 1 January 2016 (Title IV, to the extent it is EU competence) |
| Signatories | European Union (and the -then- 28 EU member states) European Atomic Energy Community Ukraine[1] |
| Ratifiers | 31 / 31 [1]
|
| Depositary | General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union |
| Languages | All official languages of the European Union and Ukrainian |
The European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement is a European Union Association Agreement between the European Union (EU), the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), Ukraine and the EU's 28 member states at the time (which are separate parties in addition to the EU and Euratom). It establishes a political and economic association between the parties. The agreement entered into force on 1 September 2017; previously parts had been provisionally applied. The parties committed to co-operate and converge economic policy, legislation, as well as regulation across a broad range of areas, including equal rights for workers, steps towards visa-free movement of people, the exchange of information and staff in the area of justice, the modernisation of Ukraine's energy infrastructure and access to the European Investment Bank (EIB). The parties committed to regular summit meetings and meetings among ministers, other officials and experts. The agreement furthermore establishes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between the parties.
The agreement commits Ukraine to economic, judicial and financial reforms to converge its policies and legislation to those of the European Union. Ukraine commits to gradually conform to EU technical and consumer standards.[6] The EU agrees to provide Ukraine with political and financial support, access to research and knowledge, and preferential access to EU markets. The agreement commits both parties to promote a gradual convergence toward the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy and European Defence Agency policies.
The agreement comes after more than two decades in which both parties sought to establish closer ties with each other. On the one hand, the European Union wants to ensure that its imports of grain and natural gas from Ukraine, as well as its exports of goods to Ukraine, are not threatened by instability in the region, believing that instability could eventually be reduced through sociopolitical and economic reforms in Ukraine.[7][8] Ukraine, on the other hand, wants to increase its exports by benefiting from free trade with the European Union while attracting desirable external investments, as well as establishing closer ties with a sociopolitical entity to which many Ukrainians feel strong cultural connection. Western Ukraine is found to be generally more enthusiastic about EU membership than Eastern Ukraine.[9][10]
The political provisions of the treaty were signed on 21 March 2014 after a series of events that had stalled its ratification culminated in a revolution in Ukraine and overthrow of the then incumbent President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.[11] This ousting was sparked by Yanukovych's last-minute[12] refusal to sign the agreement. Russia, Ukraine's second largest trading partner, instead presented an association with the existing Customs Union of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan as an alternative.[13][14] After 21 March 2014, matters relating to trade integration were temporarily set aside (awaiting the results of the 25 May 2014 Ukrainian presidential elections) until the European Union and the new Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the economic part of the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement on 27 June 2014,[2] and described this as Ukraine's "first but most decisive step" towards EU membership.[15]
Titles III, V, VI and VII, and the related Annexes and Protocols of the Agreement have been provisionally applied since 1 November 2014, while Title IV has been applied from 1 January 2016,[16] as far as the provisions concern EU competences. Provisions formally came into force on 1 September 2017 following ratification of the Agreement by all signatories.[1]
Background
Ukraine
Beginning in the late 18th century most of Ukraine was first part of the Russian Empire. Afterwards, Western Ukraine was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then passed to the Second Polish Republic until the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland.[17] Ukraine then joined the Soviet Union (both the Russian SSR and the Ukrainian SSR united into the Soviet Union from 1922)[17] until Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union on 24 August 1991.[17] Independent Ukraine (since 1991) originally maintained strong ties with Russia, and as such Ukraine's economy became integrated with the Russian economy.[18][19]
Before signing the treaty, about a third of Ukraine's foreign trade was with the European Union (EU); another third was with Russia.[6]
European Union
The European Coal and Steel Community was constituted in 1952, consisting of six Western European countries. This would lead to the European Union in 1992 as central powers increased, and membership increase reached 28 by 2013. The Union has a common market, and has amongst others the competency to conclude trade agreements. The Union only has competence transferred to it from its member states, and thus when a treaty includes areas where it has no competence, the member states become a party to the treaty alongside the Union.
History
On 22 July 2008, it was announced that a "Stabilisation and Association"-type agreement would be signed between Ukraine and the European Union.[20] However, in 2011 the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, warned Ukraine that although talks about a European Union Association Agreement with Ukraine would continue, the ratification process of the treaty "will face problems if there is no reversal in the approach of Ukrainian authorities" towards the trial of former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko.[21] The association agreement has to be ratified by all member states and the European Parliament for the document to take effect.[21] The sentencing of Tymoshenko to seven years in prison on 11 October 2011 was met with national and international protest and threatened Ukraine–European Union relations.[22][23] Tymoshenko herself stated that her imprisonment should not stop the European Union from establishing closer ties with Ukraine.[24] The signing of an association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, although finalised, was postponed on 19 December 2011. According to a joint statement by Ukraine and the EU adopted on a Ukraine-EU Summit, the ratification of the treaty depended on Ukraine's "respect for common values and the rule of law with an independent judiciary".[25][26][27][28] The European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle, stated on 27 February 2012 that he "hoped" the association agreement would be initialed within a month and he "saw" it would be signed next autumn. He also noted "the need for action in six key areas" (mainly juridical reform and democratic freedoms).[29][30][31] On 29 February 2012 the European People's Party demanded the immediate release of Yulia Tymoshenko, Yuriy Lutsenko and other political prisoners, and insisted that the association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union should not be signed and ratified until these demands were met.[32][33]
Initial steps
The EU Association Agreement (AA) was initialed[clarification needed] on 30 March 2012 in Brussels.[34] The treatment and sentencing (considered by EU leaders as a politically motivated trial[35]) of former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko had strained the relations between the EU and Ukraine.[35][36] The European Union and several of its member states, notably Germany, had pressured Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich and his Azarov Government to halt the detention of Tymoshenko in fear of her degrading health.[37] Several meetings with Yanukovich had been deserted by EU leaders, including the German president Joachim Gauck.[38][39]
At the request of opposition politicians in Ukraine, EU government officials boycotted the UEFA Euro 2012 championship in Ukraine.[38][40][41] EU leaders suggested that the AA, and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, could not be ratified unless Ukraine addressed concerns over a "stark deterioration of democracy and the rule of law", including the imprisonment of Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko in 2011 and 2012.[42][43][44]
A 10 December 2012 statement by the EU Foreign Affairs Council "reaffirms its commitment to the signing of the already initialed Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, as soon as the Ukrainian authorities demonstrate determined action and tangible progress in the three areas mentioned above, possibly by the time of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November 2013". These three areas are: "Electoral, judiciary and constitutional reforms (in line with international standards are integral parts of it and commonly agreed priorities)".[45]
Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, Ukraine's Ambassador to the EU, responded in February 2013 by rejecting any preconditions by the EU for signing the AA.[46] However, on 22 February 2013, a resolution was approved by 315 of the 349 registered members of the Verkhovna Rada stating that "within its powers" the parliament would ensure that the 10 December 2012 EU Foreign Affairs Council "recommendations" are implemented.[47] At the 16th EU-Ukraine summit of 25 February 2013,[48] The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, followed up on the December 2012 EU Foreign Affairs Council statement by reiterating the EU's "call for determined action and tangible progress in these areas – at the latest by May, this year".[49] The same day President Yanukovych stated Ukraine will "do its best" to satisfy the EU's requirements.[49] At the time President Yanukovych was also in negotiations with Russia to "find the right model" for cooperation with the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.[49] But also on 25 February 2013 President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso made it clear that "one country cannot at the same time be a member of a customs union and be in a deep common free-trade area with the European Union".[49]
To coordinate preparation of Ukraine for European integration, the Government of Ukraine adopted a Plan on Priority Measures for European Integration of Ukraine for 2013. Successful implementation of the plan was assumed to be one of the conditions necessary for signing of the Association Agreement, planned for 29 November 2013 during the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius.[50][51]
In March 2013, Stefan Fuele, the EU's Commissioner for Enlargement, informed the European Parliament that while Ukrainian authorities had given their "unequivocal commitment" to address the issues raised by the EU, several "disturbing" recent incidents, including the annulment of Tymoshenko's lawyer Serhiy Vlasenko's mandate in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament), could delay the signing of the agreements. However, the next day the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its optimism that they would still be signed in November.[52] On 7 April 2013 a decree by President Yanukovych freed Lutsenko from prison and exempted him, and his fellow Minister in the second Tymoshenko Government Heorhiy Filipchuk, from further punishment.[53] On 3 September 2013, at the opening session of the Verkhovna Rada after the summer recess, President Yanukovych urged his parliament to adopt laws so that Ukraine would meet the EU criteria and be able to sign the Association Agreement in November 2013.[54] On 18 September, the Ukrainian cabinet unanimously approved the draft association agreement.[55] On 25 September 2013 Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Rybak stated that he was sure that his parliament would pass all the laws needed to fit the EU criteria for the Association Agreement since, except for the Communist Party of Ukraine, "the Verkhovna Rada has united around these bills".[a][56] On 20 November 2013, the EU's Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fuele, stated he expected that the Verkhovna Rada would the next day[50] consider and adopt the remaining bills necessary for the signing of the association agreement, planned for 29 November 2013.
Stalling
We know how much Ukrainian people feel European, how much they care about Europe. We will, of course, now pursue our conversations with our Ukrainian partners, knowing well that we should always respect Ukraine's sovereign decisions.
—José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, at the 28–29 November 2013 EU summit in Vilnius (29 November 2013)[58]
On 21 November 2013, the Verkhovna Rada failed to pass any of the six motions on allowing the former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to receive medical treatment abroad, which was an EU demand for signing the association agreement.[59][60] The same week Tymoshenko had stated that she was ready to ask the EU to drop the demand for her freedom if it meant President Viktor Yanukovych would sign the association agreement.[61] The same day a Ukrainian government decree suspended preparations for signing of the association agreement; instead it proposed the creation of a three-way trade commission between Ukraine, the European Union and Russia that would resolve trade issues between the sides.[59] Prime Minister Mykola Azarov issued the decree in order to "ensure the national security of Ukraine" and in consideration of the possible ramifications of trade with Russia (and other CIS countries)[62] if the agreement was signed on a 28–29 November summit in Vilnius.[59][63][64] According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boyko Ukraine will resume preparing the agreement "when the drop in industrial production and our relations with CIS countries are compensated by the European market, otherwise our country's economy will sustain serious damage".[62] Some EU diplomats were more skeptical of the reasons put forward.[65] Later on 21 November 2013, the Russian presidential press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, called the Ukrainian decree "a strictly internal and sovereign decision of the country, and we think we have no right to comment on it" and stated that Russia was prepared to have tripartite negotiations with Ukraine and the EU on trade and economic issues[66] while at the same time numerous Russian institutions started what was described as a campaign of threats, insults and preemptive trade restrictions against Ukrainian businesses.[67][68][69][70]
The European Parliament's monitoring mission in Ukraine stated (also on 21 November 2013) that there was still a possibility to sign the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.[60] The same day Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych stated "an alternative for reforms in Ukraine and an alternative for European integration do not exist...We are walking along this path and are not changing direction".[71][b]
In the following days, Euromaidan, the biggest protests since the Orange Revolution, were being held in Kyiv by opposition parties.[73][74] On 26 November 2013, the Ukrainian Government admitted that Russia had asked it to delay signing the EU association agreement and that it "wanted better terms for the EU deal".[75] "As soon as we reach a level that is comfortable for us, when it meets our interests, when we agree on normal terms, then we will be talking about signing," President Yanukovych stated in a televised interview.[75] The same day Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an end to the criticism of the Ukrainian decision to delay the association agreement, and that the EU deal was bad for Russia's security interests.[75] Putin was responding to statements by the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, that had stated they "strongly disapproved" of Russia's actions.[75] On 26 November 2013 Prime Minister Azarov stated during a government meeting "I affirm with full authority that the negotiating process over the Association Agreement is continuing, and the work on moving our country closer to European standards is not stopping for a single day".[76] President Yanukovych still attended the 28–29 November EU summit in Vilnius but the Association Agreement was not signed.[76][77][78] During this summit, the European Union and Ukraine initialed an Air Services Agreement.[79] Also during the summit, President Yanukovych stated that Ukraine still wanted to sign the Association Agreement but that it needed substantial financial aid to compensate it for the threatened response from Russia, and he proposed starting three-way talks between Russia, Ukraine, and the EU. He also urged Brussels to help Ukraine soften the terms of a possible loan from the IMF.[80] The EU rejected trilateral talks and asked Yanukovich to commit to sign the Association Agreement, which he refused to do.[80] At the end of a summit President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso stated that the EU will not tolerate "a veto of a third country" in their negotiations on closer integration with Ukraine.[81] He also stated "We are embarked on a long journey, helping Ukraine to become, as others, what we call now, 'new member states'. But we have to set aside short-term political calculations."[82]
The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, added that "we may not give in to external pressure, least of all from Russia".[81] Barroso reiterated that the EU's offer to Ukraine in terms of signing an Association Agreement remained on the table.[83][c] Simultaneously, President Yanukovych stated that he still intends to sign the Association Agreement at a later date "once we get down to work and find solutions for economic problems, when we get the opportunity to sign a strategic partnership agreement with Russia and everything else that we need to do, so that normal relations can be established between the European Union, Russia, and Ukraine… this is our responsibility".[86]
Signing
President Viktor Yanukovych was removed from power by Ukrainian parliament majority vote[87] after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and replaced by a new interim government in February 2014. At an EU summit in Brussels on 21 March 2014, the new Ukrainian Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatseniuk, and European Union leaders Herman Van Rompuy and José Manuel Barroso, along with the 28 national political leaders or heads of state on the European Council, signed in Brussels the political provisions of the AA,[11][88] with the DCFTA to be signed after the presidential election in May 2014.[89][90] The European Union and the (then) new Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the economic part of the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement on 27 June 2014,[2][91] and described this as Ukraine's "first but most decisive step" towards EU membership.[15] President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said at the signing ceremony: "In Kyiv and elsewhere, people gave their lives for this closer link to the European Union. We will not forget this."[92]
Ratification
Titles III, V, VI and VII, and the related Annexes and Protocols of the Agreement have been provisionally applied since 1 November 2014, while Title IV has been applied from 1 January 2016,[16] as far as the provisions concern EU competences. Provisions formally came into force on 1 September 2017 following ratification of the Agreement by all signatories.[1]
| Signatory | Date | Institution | 
|
|
AB | Deposited[1] | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Austria
|
8 July 2015 | National Council | 134 | 47 | 0 | 6 August 2015 | [93] |
| 24 July 2015 | Federal Council | Approved | [93] | ||||
| 31 July 2015 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [94] | ||||
 Belgium
| |||||||
| 23 April 2015 | Chamber of Representatives | 102 | 17 | 19 | 1 February 2016 | [95][96] | |
| 13 May 2015 | Royal Assent (federal law) | Granted | [97] | ||||
| 1 July 2015 |
|
63 | 2 | 4 | [98] | ||
| 61 | 2 | 4 | [98] | ||||
| 22 June 2015 | German-speaking Community | 16 | 2 | 1 | [99] | ||
| 24 June 2015 | French Community | 71 | 0 | 8 | [100] | ||
| 20 November 2015 | Brussels Regional Parliament | 69 | 3 | 3 | [101] | ||
| 20 November 2015 |
|
53 | 3 | 1 | [103] | ||
| 14 | 0 | 2 | |||||
| 17 June 2015 |
|
82 | 18 | [104] | |||
| 87 | 19 | [104] | |||||
| 24 June 2015 | COCOF Assembly | 71 | 0 | 8 | [105][106] | ||
 Bulgaria
|
24 July 2014 | National Assembly | 90 | 2 | 1 | 9 September 2014 | [107] |
| 28 July 2014 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [108] | ||||
 Croatia
|
12 December 2014 | Parliament | 118 | 0 | 0 | 24 March 2015 | [109] |
| 18 December 2014 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [110] | ||||
 Cyprus
|
29 October 2015 | House of Representatives | Approved | 29 January 2016 | [111] | ||
| 6 November 2015 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [112] | ||||
 Czech Republic
|
10 December 2014 | Senate | 52 | 3 | 12 | 12 November 2015 | [113] |
| 17 September 2015 | Chamber of Deputies | 107 | 29 | 2 | [113][114] | ||
| 27 October 2015 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [115] | ||||
 Denmark
|
18 December 2014 | Parliament | 102 | 8 | 0 | 18 February 2015 | [116] |
 Estonia
|
4 November 2014 | Assembly | 65 | 1 | 0 | 12 January 2015 | [117][118] |
| 13 November 2014 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [119] | ||||
 European Union and EAEC
|
16 September 2014 | European Parliament | 535 | 127 | 35 | 11 July 2017 | [120] |
| 11 July 2017 | Council of the European Union | Granted | [121] | ||||
 Finland
|
10 March 2015 | Parliament | Approved | 6 May 2015 | [122] | ||
| 24 April 2015 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [123] | ||||
 France
|
7 May 2015 | Senate | Approved | 10 August 2015 | [124] | ||
| 25 June 2015 | National Assembly | Approved | [124] | ||||
| 8 July 2015 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [124] | ||||
 Germany
|
8 May 2015 | Bundesrat | 69 | 0 | 0 | 22 July 2015 | [125][126] |
| 26 March 2015 | Bundestag | 567 | 64 | 0 | [127] | ||
| 27 May 2015 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [128] | ||||
 Greece
|
18 November 2015 | Parliament | Approved | 6 January 2016 | [129] | ||
| 24 November 2015 | Presidential Promulgation | Granted | [130] | ||||
 Hungary
|
25 November 2014 | National Assembly | 139 | 5 | 0 | 7 April 2015 | [131] |
| 5 December 2014 | Presidential Assent | Granted | [131] | ||||
 Ireland
|
27 January 2015 | Dáil Éireann | 59 | 19 | 0 | 17 April 2015 | [132][133] |
 Italy
|
10 September 2015 | Senate | 145 | 39 | 14 | 11 December 2015 | [134] |
| 11 June 2015 | Chamber of Deputies | 245 | 112 | 31 | [134][135] | ||