Small and Medium businesses identified as key in economic integration of Ukraine by WG2 of the Ukrainian NP

WG2 “Economic Integration and Convergence with EU Policies” of the Ukrainian NP discussed the economic integration of Ukraine during its meeting on 12 June 2013 in Chernihiv.

The debates particularly focused on the support of small and medium business, which was identified as a key area of concerns as this sector is “in its infancy” in Ukraine. Participants stressed that “real investments are needed for real businesses” instead of ineffective informational and educational campaigns, which have so far been used. Accordingly, WG2 decided to revise its position paper on SMEs in the Eastern Partnership countries.

Furthermore, participants expressed their concerns that the Ukrainian authorities are knowingly taking a negative decision on the European integration of Ukraine, while the large majority hopes that Ukraine will nevertheless sign the Association Agreement including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU already this year. In the light of this unclear perspective, the WG considered possible working formats for both cases.

In the framework of the meeting an international conference “Ukraine-Belarus: new opportunities for the development of cross-border cooperation” was organised and attended by the WG2 members. The conference was devoted to the development of cross-border cooperation between Ukraine and Belarus as well as to the positive experience of the Visegrad countries in this policy field.

A more detailed report is available here.