Ukraine parliament approves EU Association Agreement bills

Ukraine’s parliament approved on September 5 four items of legislation necessary for signing the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement. The approved legislation includes measures to execute court rulings, amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code on penal conditions, amendments to the Constitution to strengthen guarantees of the independence of Constitutional Court judges and organizing revotes for parliamentary MPs in five election districts that weren’t able to establish results in October 2012.

Zenon Zawada: The September 5 parliamentary session revealed several key points. Firstly, there are more than enough votes to approve the remaining legislation necessary for signing the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, with all of yesterday’s bills gaining well over 300 votes. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych estimated the total number of necessary EU bills at 20, the Forbes.ua website reported on September 5.

Secondly, Yanukovych succeeded in taming the pro-Russian wing of his Party of Regions, which offered no opposition yesterday. Yanukovych reportedly offered Party of Regions MPs, most of whom are big businessmen, protection from excess attention from state inspectors in exchange for their support of the necessary legislation, the Forbes.ua website said. Yanukovych said he ordered state officials to develop instruments that will protect domestic producers from the consequences of EU integration.

Finally, although the opposition isn’t satisfied with some of the legislation being approved, which include clauses favorable to the current government, it can’t vote against the bills because it will lose credibility in the eyes of its pro-Western electorate. Therefore, Yanukovych and the Party of Regions are in good shape to meet Ukraine-EU Association Agreement requirements in time for the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on November 28-29.