Training internal market experts from Ukrainian government in Kyiv
Clingendael experts Julia Soldatiuk-Westerveld, Wouter Zweers and Max Eleveld traveled to Kyiv for a training that brought together experts from the Ukrainian civil service working on Cluster 2 of the process for EU candidate countries. This cluster is about the alignment of Ukrainian legislation with EU laws and standards relevant to the integration of EU candidate countries into the EU internal market. Ukraine and the EU are finalising a legislative screening process. However, the start of actual negotiations and the implementation of Cluster 2 are still pending unilateral approval by all EU member states.
The experts revisited the structure and dynamics of EU accession and the concept of integration. They discussed chapter-specific challenges: from consumer protection and competition to free movement of labour and services.
The group engaged in discussions with experts on alignment, in particular in regard to the The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTA). These are free trade areas between the EU, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Veronika Movchan, Research Director at the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting in Kyiv, shared her expertise, as did Carolien Spaans, Agricultural Counsellor at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Viktoria Lobun, Coordinator of the Ukrainian government for Cluster 2, and Richard Grieveson, Deputy Director at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies.
The group also prepared negotiation positions on Cluster 2 chapters, before taking part in a tailor-made simulation of bilateral discussions between the European Commission and Ukraine covering Cluster 2.
The training was organised together with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
Would you like to know more about our research on EU accession or about the practical trainings Clingendael Academy offers for professionals engaging with the EU? Then please reach out to: [email protected].
