The document was approved at 1:00pm in Kiev and there was a synchronous signing session in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Ukraine’s Rada voted 355 votes in favor out of 381 total, and the European Parliament supported the ratification with 535 ‘yes’ votes and 127 against, with 26 abstaining.
“From tomorrow I task the government with approving the implementation of the agreement and immediately implementing it into the force of law,” President Petro Poroshenko said at the ratification in Kiev. Poroshenko said he hopes the agreement will help Ukraine reform its economy and fight corruption, and that someday Ukraine hopes to apply for EU membership.
Ukraine will continue duty-free trade with Russia and other CIS states until December 31, 2015, and on January 1, 2016 will begin economic integration with the EU.
In 2013, Ukraine exported goods worth $16 billion to Russia, nearly 25 percent of all total exports. In comparison, Ukraine exported $17 billion to Europe in the same 12-month period.
Since the political tension has intensified between the two, both have been cutting back on imports. In the first seven months of 2014, Russia reduced Ukrainian imports by 23.7 percent down to $6.7 billion, according to Russia’s Statistics Bureau. At the same time, Ukraine has been decreasing goods bought from Russia, which have fallen 20.7 percent to $9 billion. The lack of cooperative trade between the two has left a negative balance of trade of $2.3 billion.
Free trade with Europe’s $13 trillion economy will be postponed until January 2016, due to the weak state of Ukraine’s economy which would make it vulnerable to a sudden influx of European goods.
Ukraine will still have the benefit of sending exports to Europe under a preferential trade code, but duty- free trade will not come into effect until 2016, protecting both Kiev and Moscow from economic risk.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has estimated that nixing duty-free trade with Russia and switching over to the European system will cost Ukraine €165 billion over the next 10 years.
During trilateral talks in Brussels on Friday, Ukraine, Russia, and the EU agreed Ukraine’s integration into Europe’s trade orbit will begin on January 1, 2016.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the economic (The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, or DCFTA) part of the Association Agreement with the EU along with ex-Soviet nations Georgia and Moldova on June 27.
Ukraine signed the political part of the agreement on March 21, shortly after Crimea rejoined Russia.
The Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) will replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement Ukraine signed with the EU in 1998.
http://rt.com/business/188128-ukraine-eu-association-agreement-parliament/
16/9/14
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Related:
Ukraine-EU association agreement to be ratified Tuesday (Ukrainian FM) / The association agreement would come into force from 2016.
Ukraine: ratification de l'accord d'association avec l'UE, processus de paix menacé...
Ukraine is set Tuesday to ratify a watered-down EU agreement and offer limited self-rule to parts of the separatist east as it tries to turn the page on the bloodiest chapter of its post-Soviet history...
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Der ukrainische Präsident Petro Poroschenko hat eines seiner Ziele erreicht: In Kiew und Straßburg stimmten die Parlamente fast gleichzeitig für ein Assoziierungsabkommen zwischen EU und Ukraine...
ReplyDeleteMit großen Mehrheiten haben die Parlamente der Ukraine und der Europäischen Union das als historisch geltende Assoziierungsabkommen verabschiedet. Die Volksvertretungen in Kiew und Straßburg nahmen die Vereinbarung am Mittag praktisch zeitgleich an. Der ukrainische Präsident Petro Poroschenko würdigte das Abkommen als "ersten Schritt" seines Landes in die EU. EU-Parlamentspräsident Martin Schulz (SPD) sprach von einem "historischen Moment"............http://www.n24.de/n24/Nachrichten/Politik/d/5413400/-historischer-moment--fuer-die-ukraine.html
16/9/14
Joint statement by José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, on the ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement...
ReplyDeleteWe welcome the simultaneous ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in the Verkhovna Rada and in the European Parliament today as an important step in Ukraine's political association and economic integration with the European Union. The Association Agreement will provide a blueprint for Ukraine's transformation into a modern and prosperous European democracy.
Background: According to the agreed outcome at the trilateral ministerial meeting on 12 September between the EU, Ukraine and Russia on the implementation of the EU-Ukraine AA/DCFTA, the Commission will now propose to Member States delaying until 31 December 2015 the provisional application of the trade-related provisions of the Association Agreement, and at the same time propose the continued application of the EU's autonomous trade measures for the benefit of Ukraine. For its part, Russia confirmed that the CIS-FTA preferential regime with Ukraine will continue to apply. The three sides have agreed that consultations will continue and shall be part of an overall peace process in Ukraine, respecting Ukraine's territorial integrity as well as its right to decide its own destiny.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-14-280_en.htm?locale=en
16/9/14
Ukraine Ratifies Association Agreement and Passes Special Status Law...
ReplyDeletePress Statement
Marie Harf, Deputy Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC, September 16, 2014
We congratulate the people of Ukraine on making history today, as the Ukrainian and European parliaments simultaneously ratified Ukraine’s Association Agreement with the European Union. By forging ahead with this Agreement in the face of great challenges, Ukraine’s leaders have carried out the will of the Ukrainian people, who demonstrated their overwhelming support for further integration with Europe last winter and with their votes in the May 25 presidential elections.
We also applaud the Ukrainian Parliament’s passage of the laws on Amnesty and Special Status for select parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, which were two important commitments Ukraine made in the Minsk ceasefire agreement on September 5. These new laws highlight the Ukrainian government’s continuing commitment to resolve the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine peacefully.
We call on Russia and the separatists it backs to reciprocate and begin immediate and full implementation of the twelve steps of the ceasefire agreement. Russia must stop its unlawful military intervention in Ukraine, withdraw all military forces and equipment from inside Ukraine and away from its border, end its support for the separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, and agree to an effective mechanism to secure and monitor the Ukraine-Russia border. The way is open for peace, but it is now incumbent on Russia and the separatists it supports to honor their ceasefire commitments and respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/09/231699.htm
16/9/14