Adapting environmental legislation to European standards is one of the tasks on the European integration path

On May 14, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna took part in a special hearings “Ukraine’s Way to Reforming Environmental and Climate Legislation in the context of EU Membership Negotiations: Plans and Activities of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Government in 2024” held by the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Environmental Policy and Nature Management.

“The topic of environmental protection was relevant and important for Ukraine even before the full-scale invasion. However, now that we are actively preparing for the start of the EU accession negotiations, we have to adapt our environmental legislation – as in all other areas – to European practices. We are already part of the European Green Deal. We have some achievements, such as the Law on Waste Management, but we still have a lot of work to do. Grateful to my colleagues for the productive discussion, I am confident that it is through such meetings that we can bring the best European practices to Ukrainian legislation together,” Olga Stefanishyna said.

During the hearing, the participants discussed the European Commission’s report “Ukraine 2023: Green Agenda and Sustainable Development”, the future climate policy of Ukraine, waste management, protection of the environment and natural resources of Ukraine, and reform of the state environmental control system.

The event was attended by representatives of the Government, Ukrainian MPs and members of the Committee, and the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.