EU Eastern Partnership summit starts in Warsaw

The European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit began yesterday in the Polish capital, with the focus firmly on Ukraine, which hopes to wrap up an Association Agreement with the EU in December, but faces concerns over its democratic records. The summit will bring together leaders and officials from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine with their EU counterparts. The first-of-its-kind Deep & Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the EU will cover all trade-related areas (including services, intellectual property rights, customs, public procurement, energy-related issues, competition, et cetera) and be embedded in the new Association Agreement. The Association Agreement, once signed, will require ratification by all EU member states.