Bilateral meetings between Ukraine and the European Commission within the framework of the screening started

On July 8, the first EU-Ukraine bilateral meeting on assessing the approximation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law began in Brussels, Belgium. This is the next important step on Ukraine’s path to EU membership.

The two-day meeting between the European Commission and Ukraine as part of the official screening of the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law is dedicated to negotiating Chapter 5, “Public Procurement.” This section is part of cluster 1, “Fundamentals of the EU accession process” – this cluster is the first to be opened and the last to be closed during the negotiations.

The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Nadiya Bihun, with Oleksandr Ilkov, Director General of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, as Deputy Head of the delegation. The delegation included Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine – Trade Representative of Ukraine, Pavlo Kyrylenko, Chairman of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, Mykola Tkachenko, Director General of ProZorro, and Alla Basalaeva, Head of the State Audit Service of Ukraine.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the State Audit Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, and the Accounting Chamber. The meeting is being held in a hybrid format with the main part of the Ukrainian delegation present in Brussels.

During the meeting, the Ukrainian delegation presents the state of approximation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law in the field of public procurement, the institutional capacity of the sector, anti-corruption measures, and a plan for full approximation of legislation to EU law.

“This is a truly historic moment for our country, as we are entering a stage of powerful transformations that should help us build a better Ukraine and become a worthy member of the European family,” said Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine Nadiya Bigun, “The negotiation process in the area of public procurement is not starting from scratch. A lot of work has already been done. We have been consistently moving towards harmonizing national legislation with European directives. And now we continue to work in this direction.” 

“We are pleased to open today’s first bilateral screening session with Ukraine on public procurement. This is an important step in the accession negotiations, which will allow the European Commission to analyze the state of affairs together with Ukraine and prioritize key reforms,” said Gert Jan Koopman, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR).

For more information

During the official screening, the European Commission, together with the candidate country, analyzes the compliance of the national legislation of the candidate country with the relevant EU acquis (EU law). The screening takes place under 33 negotiating chapters, which are grouped into 6 clusters (thematic blocks). From February to May, the first stage of the screening process was held – explanatory sessions with Ukraine and Moldova, candidate countries for EU accession.

Following the results of the screening, the European Commission will prepare a report on the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with EU law for each negotiation cluster. This document will finally determine the level of compliance and the further scope of work.