Інтерв'ю Представника України при ЄС для міжнародного інформаційного агентства Agence Europe.

Head of Ukraine’s Mission to the EU Mykola Tochytskyi briefed foreign media in Brussels on Ukraine’s ambitions in relations with the EU, Eastern Partnership development, Ukraine’s contribution to the #EU Green Deal and all other aspects of Ukraine-EU cooperation. Check out more in the article from the Agence Europe.

Ukraine's ambassador to the EU, Mykola Tochytskyi, stressed to some journalists, on Tuesday 25 February, his country's willingness to develop 3+1 cooperation (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and the EU), i.e. the three most advanced countries which have an Association Agreement and a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU.

"It is also a question of using the model of cooperation between Ukraine and the EU in the areas of customs, digital technology or energy security as a possible extension of cooperation" for Georgia and Moldova, he explained. "We can only be safe when our neighbours are more involved in the European process", he said.

However, far be it for Mr Tochytskyi to "destroy" the Eastern Partnership. "We have no moral right to forget the other three countries" less close to the EU - Belarus, Azerbaijan and Armenia, he explained. According to the ambassador, his country is interested in opportunities for a six-way cooperation. He highlighted the example of a motorway that would link Gdansk in Poland to Odesa via Belarus and Moldova and then Georgia to Baku in Azerbaijan. According to Mr Tochytskyi, "this is something that could unite us as an economic project and help us to be more interesting partners for the EU".

On the bilateral relationship, the Ambassador recalled that the EU and Ukraine had agreed on some kind of updating of the Association Agreement, in particular the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), including in the fields of digital, energy as well as customs. Referring to the ongoing discussions on the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (#ACAA), the ambassador clarified that his country wanted to be a "relevant partner", not only on agricultural products, but also on industrial products for EU markets. "The objective is not only to implement the political part of the association agreement, but to be more active on the free trade area" he added.

The ambassador also wants Ukraine and the EU to cooperate on the Green Deal, adding that his country will make a proposal in this area.

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https://agenceurope.eu/en/bulletin/article/12433/3