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

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna said this at a press briefing in Brussels on January 25 following the negotiations at the European 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 solve in Kyiv. This decision has already been adopted by the European Commission," Stefanishyna said.

She noted that the screening of Ukrainian legislation, which was launched today, is a long, very detailed and technical process, which involves the holding 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 European Council summit in March. It should give impetus to the further negotiation process. Let's hope that Ukraine's implementation of the four recommendations [emphasized by the European Commission] will speed up the adoption of the negotiating framework for the first round of negotiations," Stefanishyna said.

She noted that the European Commission was speeding up work on the evaluation of the implementation of bills adopted by Ukraine to fulfill these recommendations. In particular, this provides an opportunity to prepare for the second reading and vote on the law on lobbying, which is the last one in the "oligarchic" 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 adopted 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 European colleagues, as well as with neighboring countries such as Hungary and Romania. So the expectations are optimistic. 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 European 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 European 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 holding 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 Koopman, Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), and Anna Jarosz-Friis, Director of the DG NEAR's Ukraine Service.