Henry Ford said: “Joint efforts are the beginning, being together is progress, and joint work is a success.” In fact, under such a slogan, a joint meeting of the WG3 of the UA CSP “Economic integration, free trade zone, cross-border cooperation” and WG2 UNP EaP CSF “Economic integration and coordination with EU policy” was held. The Ukrainian proverb sounds: “One in the field is not a warrior.” Actually, as practice shows, it is better to implement European integration reforms and changes in partnership — and the results can be achieved faster and strengthen each other.
On July 30, a joint meeting of the WG3 UA CSP “Economic Integration, Free Trade Area, Cross-Border Cooperation” and WG2 UNP EaP CSF “Economic Integration and Coordination with EU Policy” took place on the ZOOM platform. The meeting began with a brief acquaintance of the participants and the directions and areas in which they work.
The first question presented within the framework of the meeting was: “To what extent does the draft law on the new version of the Law of Ukraine “On the basic principles of state supervision (control) in the field of economic activity” comply with the provisions of the ICPS?” which was presented by Larysa Starikova (Analytical Center of the Agrarian Union of Ukraine, WG2 UNP).
The next issue on the agenda was: “European Green Deal: Economy vs Ecology”. The speaker was Oleksandra Pravdyva, NGO “Leading Council” (WG3 UA CSP). The topic is quite relevant, so it caused a lot of questions and a heated discussion.
It is time to specify these discussions in the direction of finding specific initiatives that can and should be promoted today. Such initiatives should be mutually beneficial for Ukraine and the EU. The final question for discussion was the development of ways and methods of cooperation between the two working groups. Participants recorded their ideas and thoughts on an interactive board.
Natalia Garashchenko, Coordinator of WG3 of the UA CSP “Economic Integration, Free Trade Area, Cross-Border Cooperation”, noted that it is necessary to create joint interdisciplinary analytical groups for the systematic processing of such complex issues as, for example, the implementation of the European Green Deal and the support of SMEs. The potential of the working groups will allow to develop effective solutions.
“Such joint meetings are extremely necessary, because we work in one direction and strive for a single result – high-quality European integration changes in Ukraine. I think such a partnership, such cooperation will benefit in promoting the effective implementation of the Association Agreement and the Eastern Partnership initiative. During such meetings, new ideas and incentives are born, in fact, we witnessed this at the first joint meeting, which, I hope, laid the beginning of a good tradition to gather together and discuss topical problems, look for ways to solve them and jointly implement changes in Ukraine”, said Iryna Kuropas, coordinator of the WG2 UNP EaP CSF “Economic integration and coordination with EU policy”.
The attendees developed proposals for coordination of joint work and decided to discuss the results of further actions at the next joint meetings, which are planned to be made regular.
Among the proposals, the implementation of which is planned to begin in the near future, is the formation of a joint positional document from two working groups on the draft law on a new version of the Law of Ukraine “On the Basic Principles of State Supervision (Control) in the Field of Economic Activity” and sending it to the relevant authorities.
Information from Iryna Kuropas, coordinator of the WG2 UNP EaP CSF “Economic integration and coordination with EU policy”.