The EU-Ukraine DCFTA: Strengthening Ukraine One Step at a Time

DCFTA is the most important element of Europe’s response to the crisis in Ukraine. Albeit technical in its layout, DCFTA is a very political act which alters EU’s neighbourhood and raises expectations and responsibilities on both sides.

Guests

Ognian Zlatev, Head of EC Representation in Bulgaria (Bulgaria)

H.E. Mykola Baltazhy, Ambassador of Ukraine to Bulgaria (Ukraine)

Valeriy Piatnitskyi, Adviser to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk (Ukraine)

Kirill Rogov, Political analyst and former senior research fellow at the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy (Russia) via video conference

Igor Burakovsky, Head of the Board of the Institute of Economic Research and Policy Consulting (Ukraine) 

Chaired by

Vessela Tcherneva, Senior Director for Programmes and Head of ECFR Sofia Office (Bulgaria)

 

DCFTA is the most important element of Europe’s response to the crisis in Ukraine. Albeit technical in its layout, DCFTA is a very political act which alters EU’s neighbourhood and raises expectations and responsibilities on both sides.

DCFTA is part of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU which aims at aligning Ukraine’s trade rules with the EU and at harmonizing a large number of norms and standards in order to bring Ukraine even closer to the EU. The agreement came into force on 1 January 2016 with the goal of boosting bilateral trade but also enabling a much needed investment flow into the Ukrainian economy. DCFTA opens the European and third party markets for Ukrainian goods. At the same time, the agreement also led to the imposition of restrictions for Ukrainian goods on the part of Russia, which according to the Ukrainian authorities should be easy to compensate through alternative markets.

With the assistance of experts from Ukraine and the European Commission, we will attempt to outline the significance of DCFTA for the EU and for the Ukrainian economy and society at large. In addition, the discussion will be held against the background of the waning support for EU’s engagement in the neighbourhood and the migration crisis.

Watch the life stream from the event right here: