Photo ( from left to the right) M. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, M. Petro Porochenko, Ukraine's president and M. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council. ( published at lexpress.com)

European Commission - Press release

EU – Ukraine Summit: Sustained EU support for accountable and transparent governance in Ukraine

Brussels, 24 November 2016

The European Commission confirmed today at the 18th EU-Ukraine Summit the next components of an overall support package to foster accountable and transparent governance in Ukraine which altogether make up a package worth over €300million.

At the Summit, a €15 million programme to fight corruption has been signed.  €104 million in support of public administration reform, and €52.5 million to foster the rule of law are in the pipeline for later in the year. These measures are part of a sequence of reform support programmes which have already included decentralisation and will include next year, public financial management Attending the summit, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said: "This new funding is evidence of the EU's continued support to the Ukrainian reform process, and to fundamental,sustained change to the way the country is governed. The EU is committed to building better governance for Ukraine, and fostering economic reforms , to make Ukraine a stronger, more prosperous and more resilient country."

Fighting corruption (€15m)

The new anti-corruption programme is intended to strengthen the capacity of the newly created anti-corruption institutions to investigate, prosecute and sanction corruption. The programme, which will be implemented by the Danish development agency, DANIDA, will also finance a group of international advisers to help the Rada with the task of scrutinising corruption-related legislation and monitoring reform implementation. Finally, the EU programme will support local authorities which back real change and are ready to cooperate with civil society organisations and the media to put in place a full range of anti-corruption measures in the regions and municipalities.

Public administration reform (€104m)

The EU has agreed to back the government's own strategy to progressively develop the independence and professionalization of the Ukrainian civil service, which the EU agrees should be a top priority. Over the next four years the EU will provide, through the state budget, some of the funding necessary to finance the modernisation of the public service, and help recruit a new generation of public servants. The government is in the process of establishing reform support teams to drive change and modernisation in individual Ministries, and the EU will also support this initiative. A number of Ministries, including Finance, Agriculture, and Infrastructure, have volunteered to act as pilots.

Rule of law (€52.5m)

The rule of law programme will support reforms of the judicial system and of the police. It will back the Ukrainian justice reform strategy and will be implemented by the French Development Agency, focusing on training and renewal of the body of judges, and the enforcement of judgments and sanctions. The police reform component has been designed in collaboration with the experts from the European Union's Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform (EUAM) and will incorporate training, the refurbishment of police stations and equipment renewal.

All three of these new programmes have been designed by the European Commission's Support Group for Ukraine (SGUA) and the EU Delegation in Ukraine, in close collaboration with EU Member States.

Background

The EU has supported Ukraine throughout its reform process:

• Since 2014, the EU has committed €3.41 billion in macro-financial assistance (MFA) to Ukraine under three programmes. So far, €2.21 billion in loans have been disbursed - €610 million under the first MFA operation, €1 billion under the second programme, and €600 million as part of the most recent and ongoing MFA operation (MFA III). Subject to the effective implementation of policy measures detailed in the Memorandum of Understanding related to MFA III, two further tranches of €600 million each are expected to be made available to Ukraine in 2016 and 2017.

•The EU has provided a major support package in priority reform areas established together with Ukraine and EU Member States. The focus for 2015/16 has been on decentralisation (€100 million), economic development (€90 million), anti-corruption (€15 million), public administration reform (€104 million) and the rule of law (€52.5 million). Support related to the conflict through the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP) amounted to €73.7 million since 2014. In 2015 and 2016 the Commission humanitarian aid department allocated a total of €54.8 million which was reinforced by contributions from Member States. Ukraine has benefitted from the so called "more for more" funds, which is allocated based on partner country's progress on reforms.