EU, Ukraine sign off on terms of landmark association agreement

The European Union and Ukraine finally initialed a landmark Association Agreement in Brussels yesterday, according to an announcement by Ukraine’s Economic Development and Trade Minister Petro Poroshenko. Both parties announced in December 2011 that they had agreed to the terms of the agreement, which includes an embedded Deep & Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Initialing is a procedural step indicating both sides are in agreement on the terms. The EU has made it clear it would initial but not sign the agreement until Ukraine addresses concerns over perceived democratic backsliding and the rule of law.

Brad Wells: The initialing is a positive step in the long road for this Association Agreement, but there still appears to be an equally long and difficult way for it to still go. The government has yet to address any of the key EU concerns necessary to go ahead with actual signing of the document and has not indicated any intentions to do so.