New European Parliament Resolution: What Will Determine Ukraine’s Progress on Its Path to the EU

On July 8, the European Parliament approved a resolution on Ukraine’s progress toward EU membership by 460 votes. Some of the proposals submitted by Transparency International Ukraine were reflected in the final document.

In it, MEPs endorsed the adoption of the plan of 10 priority reforms — the so-called “Kachka-Kos plan” — as an important step toward strengthening the rule of law, advancing judicial reform, and reinforcing anti-corruption efforts. They noted, however, that the plan is only 15% implemented and urged Kyiv to accelerate its delivery. The European Parliament also underscored the Verkhovna Rada’s key role in adopting reforms on time and called for their consideration to be sped up.

Importantly, the European Parliament not only acknowledged certain progress by Ukraine — noting, in particular, the work of the anti-corruption agencies and the adoption of the law on public procurement — but also clearly identified the areas where reforms must be carried through. The key tasks include:

• maintaining the involvement of international experts in judicial reform;
• guaranteeing the institutional and operational independence of the NABU and the SAPO, free from political interference and pressure on the anti-corruption bodies, coupled with a demand to immediately end unjustified pressure from the SSU and other security services;
• revising the CPC provisions on the automatic closure of proceedings once the pretrial investigation time limits expire, on shortened investigation periods, and on abuse of procedural rights;
• improving asset declaration verification procedures and focusing the NACP’s efforts on checking top officials in high-risk areas;
• fully implementing the ARMA reform, including by adopting the necessary secondary legislation.

Progress on these issues will determine the pace at which Ukraine advances within the first negotiating cluster, Fundamentals, and will strengthen partners’ confidence in its further European integration.

The European Parliament separately stressed the need for systematic and substantive consultations with civil society, for civil society’s proposals to be taken into account in decision-making, and for any political pressure on civil society organizations to be prevented.

This material is funded by Norway. Its content is the sole responsibility of Transparency International Ukraine and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Norwegian Government.