The European Commission on Wednesday proposed negotiating directives for a new enhanced agreement with Ukraine, to replace the existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.
According to the EC, the enhanced agreement should take a "comprehensive and ambitious approach" and will include a Free Trade Area.
The proposed negotiating directives will now go the Council of Ministers for approval, with a view to beginning negotiations early in 2007.
The decision came on the eve of the first visit of the new Ukrainian Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovitch, to Brussels.
Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson observed that:
"The new agreement will aim to build on Ukraine's forthcoming accession to the WTO with an FTA that creates a strong foundation for closer trade and economic relations between the EU and Ukraine. Harmonising regulation and removing barriers to trade will attract new investment and make it easier for businesses to operate across borders."
The new agreement will be a comprehensive agreement covering all areas of EU-Ukraine activity. It will go beyond the existing Partnership and Co-operation Agreement wherever possible. It is to include provisions on common values, enhanced cooperation on justice, freedom and security, extensive provisions on energy, and cooperation in a broad range of areas such as transport and environment.
A Free Trade Area will be one of the main elements, for which negotiations will start once Ukraine has completed its WTO accession process. The Commission expects therefore that Ukraine will make the adoption of the remaining items of legislation necessary for Ukraine’s accession to the WTO a priority.
The EU-Ukraine Co-operation Council on 14 September is expected to discuss the next steps in the Action Plan.
Areas of particular importance are implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on Energy, and the finalisation of the readmission and visa facilitation agreements. Discussions will also cover human rights, rule of law, co-operation on CFSP and regional matters, trade and economic matters, and nuclear safety, transport and environment.
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