Brussels sees lack of progress in a dozen reforms in Ukraine and setback in environmental matters

BRUSSELS Oct. 30 () –

This Wednesday, the European Commission pointed out Ukraine’s lack of progress in a dozen reforms committed to the European Union on its community path, while warning of setbacks on environmental issues, despite recognizing kyiv’s general progress in the midst of the Russian invasion.

“Ukraine continues to push for reforms despite Russia’s brutal invasion. Ukrainians are fighting two battles: one on the front, a real war, and the other is to advance reforms to become a member of the EU,” said the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, at the presentation in the European capital of the annual Enlargement report.

Thus, the head of European diplomacy has stressed that Brussels helps Ukraine both in fighting the war and in the European dimension. “Membership in the EU is the ultimate guarantee of security that we can give to Ukraine,” he explained.

In any case, the annual report of the European Commission that evaluates the country’s progress on the European path in the last year points out that there are certain reforms in which kyiv has not taken steps last year. One of the most important cases is to have an evaluation system for judges and prosecutors according to the criteria set by GRECO.

After the EU decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine, Brussels also perceives that the country has not established bodies for the fight against organized crime or the assessment of this threat, while there has been no progress to create a national detection system of new psychoactive substances.

The banking system remains stable in Ukraine despite the Russian invasion war, although Brussels points out that capital markets and non-banking financial intermediation remain in a very early phase of development, with no progress observed in the last year. There are also no achievements in the harmonization of patent law and some of its implementing rules, as well as in Ukrainian legislation on trademarks or on trade secrets.

Regarding energy efficiency, kyiv has a law that is aligned with European standards, although Brussels points out that there is no progress in the mandatory efficiency criteria in public procurement.

DECLINE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS

Environmental issues are the main Achilles heel for Ukraine and the annual report from Brussels emphasizes that kyiv is pending full harmonization with the EU acquis regarding liability and environmental crimes, as well as control measures in this matter.

Specifically, the European Commission perceives a setback in the last year in the protection of nature since the Ukrainian regulations “do not comply with the community acquis” and calls for more steps in matters of deforestation and also in the protection of fauna and flora.