Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and Minister of Justice, Olha Stefanishyna, and Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, Cristina Gherasimov, have signed a memorandum of cooperation on European integration and the EU accession process.
The signing took place on the sidelines of an informal meeting of the EU General Affairs Council held in Warsaw on Tuesday, February 18, Ukrinform reports, citing the Ukrainian government’s press service.
“I am pleased to sign this document today, which will only strengthen the cooperation between our two countries on the path to EU membership. Despite times of global turbulence, European integration remains an unwavering goal for our countries, and we are ready to move towards it hand in hand,” Stefanishyna said.
The signed memorandum will promote the development of mutual cooperation between Ukraine and Moldova, as well as facilitate the exchange of knowledge in the field of European integration, ensuring successful preparation for accession and full EU membership.
The document defines cooperation in several areas, including:
- accession to the EU, including the enlargement process and accession negotiations;
- exchange of knowledge, experience and practice of negotiations between negotiators and the negotiating team, other experts involved in the accession negotiations;
- exchange of information and know-how for harmonisation of national legislation with EU legislation, ensuring its effective implementation and bringing it in line with EU acquis;
- exchange of knowledge and experience on the implementation of EU policies in the negotiating clusters;
- exchange of knowledge and experience in fundamental areas of the rule of law, in particular judicial reform and the fight against corruption and organized crime, fundamental rights, the functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform, as well as economic criteria;
- exchange of information and know-how on financial support from the European Union;
- exchange of information on a communication strategy for society on EU integration.
An action plan will be developed and adopted to implement cooperation in these areas.
The memorandum envisages cooperation in the identified areas, in particular through regular meetings of the chief negotiators and their negotiating teams, as well as within the framework of the joint working group established to organize and implement the measures envisaged by the document.
In addition, joint events, meetings, seminars, trainings, study visits and business trips are envisaged to exchange professional experience and knowledge of the European integration process.
Source: Ukraine, Moldova sign cooperation document on EU accession
