The cooperation of deputies of Ukraine and members of the European Parliament (EP) at the inter-committee level will contribute to full membership in the European Union, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk said.
“We held the first joint inter-committee meeting of Ukrainian parliamentarians with MEPs. So, today we have established a structural cooperation between the committees of our parliaments … The basis and agenda for the inter-committee dialogue should be made up of ‘road maps’ of activities in the European integration direction. And this will eventually contribute to Ukraine’s promotion to full membership in the European Union,” he wrote on his Facebook page following the results of the meeting on Wednesday.
Stefanchuk stressed that now every committee of the Ukrainian parliament is becoming essentially of European integration, and every legislative initiative will be considered through the prism of its compliance with certain European standards.
“And this should become the new architecture of Ukrainian parliamentarism. Regular meetings, joint events, working contacts between parliamentarians, constant interaction between our secretariats are ahead,” the speaker added.
The Head of the Verkhovna Rada also called this a historic day for the Ukrainian and European parliaments, and thanked the head of the EP Roberta Metsola for the initiative of such a meeting and support for Ukraine’s aspirations to be a full member of the EU.
“The process of joining the EU is a painstaking work on adapting national legislation to EU law and I am grateful that the European Parliament is ready to be side by side with Ukraine,” he added.
As reported, the heads of the committees of the European Parliament and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine held the first joint meeting on April 12 to discuss the process of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. The parliamentarians considered a number of issues, in particular, related to economic policy, the rule of law, the anti-corruption program and budget control, as well as bringing Ukrainian legislation into line with EU legislation and the implementation of EU legislation.