EU starts screening Ukrainian legislation: Stefanishyna discloses details of talks at Eurean Commission

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Eurean and Euro-Atlantic Integration ga Stefanishyna said this at a press briefing in Brussels on January 25 flowing the negotiations at the Eurean Commission, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"During the negotiation process, we initiated the screening process and approved the relevant sectoral meetings that will take place as part of the screening. Also, based on the results of today's negotiations, we are starting work on road maps in the areas of the rule of law and public administration reform, which will be the basis of the negotiation process itself, and we actually discussed the issue of (forming) negotiation teams. This is already the question that we will sve in Kyiv. This decision has already been adted by the Eurean Commission," Stefanishyna said.

She noted that the screening of Ukrainian legislation, which was launched today, is a long, very detailed and technical process, which invves the hding of sectoral meetings in all directions. The parties agreed on a schedule for such negotiations, which begin with consideration of fundamental rights and reforms.

"On the first block, negotiations may last a month or two. We will wait for the decision of the Eurean Council summit in March. It should give impetus to the further negotiation process. Let's he that Ukraine's implementation of the four recommendations [emphasized by the Eurean Commission] will speed up the adtion of the negotiating framework for the first round of negotiations," Stefanishyna said.

She noted that the Eurean Commission was speeding up work on the evaluation of the implementation of bills adted by Ukraine to fulfill these recommendations. In particular, this provides an portunity to prepare for the second reading and vote on the law on lobbying, which is the last one in the "igarchic" package.

In the same context, the activity of anti-corruption judicial bodies is being monitored – this is a new element aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the adted legislation. According to Stefanishyna, other law enforcement agencies may join this process, taking into account the latest events in Ukraine.

"Of course, we are also working on the implementation of the legislation on national minorities. We proceed from the fact that we have good dynamics, and every week we discuss our steps with our Eurean cleagues, as well as with neighboring countries such as Hungary and Romania. So the expectations are timistic. I am sure that there are no restrictions on the discussion of these issues until March," she said.

According to the government portal, during the constituent meeting as part of the negotiation process in Brussels, which took place in a hybrid format, the Eurean side presented the peculiarities and stages of the official screening process – an assessment of compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law, which is a key stage of the negotiation process. The EU formed a schedule of meetings between representatives of Ukrainian ministries and the Eurean Commission as part of screening. The transfer of official materials (guidance) for preparation to the Ukrainian side was confirmed.

The Ukrainian side, in turn, presented its vision of the national negotiation architecture. The participants in the meeting discussed approaches to the formation of negotiating teams, the preparation of the EU negotiating framework and the negotiating position of Ukraine, the hding of the first intergovernmental conference and the schedule of interaction for the coming months.

The EU side was represented at the meeting by Gert Jan Koman, Director-General of the Eurean Commission's Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), and Anna Jarosz-Friis, Director of the DG NEAR's Ukraine Service.