Eu/Ukraine : Azarov Confirms Kiev's Commitment To Free Trade Deal With Eu

01/11/2010 12:00 - 421 Views

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has played down the seriousness of concerns Kiev has recently raised over the fairness of the proposals the EU is putting forward during its ongoing free trade negotiations with Ukraine.

Addressing a joint press conference with Stefan Füle, the EU's enlargement commissioner, on 13 October in Brussels, Azarov said he was confident that "Ukraine and the EU are going to obtain consensus on everything and agree on everything" concerning the free trade deal. "The positions of the two sides are quite close," he added.

Shortly before Azarov's arrival in Brussels, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych suggested that the free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU would cost Ukraine billions in lost tariff revenues and expressed regret that the EU was not interested at all in finalising the deal. "Ukraine's wish alone is not enough to set up this free trade zone," Yanukovych told an international conference in the Ukrainian Black Sea resort of Yalta. He also slammed the EU for not offering visa-free arrangements as part of the trade agreement.

His comments raised eyebrows in Brussels, where a few days earlier he declared Ukraine's full commitment to intensifying negotiations on a free trade deal.

The EU and Ukraine have been involved in talks on a new association agreement since 2007, which includes a deal on a deep comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA). However, the talks have been stalled for months now over disagreements on the free trade part of the deal. Tariffs constitute the major bone of contention. Kiev says that lifting all duties on European goods imported into Ukraine would cost the country's budget about 20% in lost income from customs payments. At the same time, Ukraine, whose main exports are agricultural, metal and chemical products, needs access to the lucrative European market to help local industries upgrade their obsolete technologies.

Füle declared that the EU remains fully committed to concluding talks with Ukraine on an association agreement and a free trade deal. He assessed that the recent round of free trade talks, launched on 4 October, was very "productive". "I think there is more optimism on both sides, particularly after the last round just a couple of days ago in Ukraine on the DCFTA," said Füle. "We are indeed in a very good direction to achieve both the association agreement and the DCFTA sooner than later."

Referring to Kiev's calls for quick progress on visa liberalisation, Füle pledged to present Ukraine with an action plan at the forthcoming EU-Ukraine summit, on 22 November, identifying the conditions the country would need to meet to get onto the Schengen white list.'

Separately, Füle and the President of the Council, Herman Van Rompuy, urged Ukraine to reinforce democratic rule after a constitutional court decision transferred sweeping powers from the parliament to the president. "The establishment of a democratic, effective and durable system of checks and balances should remain a priority," Van Rompuy said.

Joanna Sopinska

Source: lexisnexis.com