PV\1157817EN.docx AP102.620v01-00

EN EN

EURONEST PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

ASSEMBLÉE PARLEMENTAIRE EURONEST

PARLAMENTARISCHE VERSAMMLUNG EURONEST

ПАРЛАМЕНТСКАЯ AССАМБЛЕЯ ЕВРОНЕСТ

Ad hoc Working Group on Association Agreements

NEST_PV(2018)0213

MINUTESof the meeting of 13 February 2018, 9.00-10.30

Tbilisi, Georgia

The meeting opened on Tuesday 13 February 2018 at 9.00, with Clare Moody and TamarKhulordava (Co-Chairs) presiding.

1. Adoption of the draft agenda

2. Follow-up to the first meeting of the working group held in Kyiv on 31 October2017

3. Exchange of views on progress and challenges in the implementation of the Deepand Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs)

Speakers:Mr Genadi Arveladze, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Developmentof Georgia

Mrs Olga Stefanishyna, Director of the Government Office for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Ukraine

Ms Iuliana Vitiuc, Counsellor for Foreign Affairs to the Minister of Economy andInfrastructure of the Republic of Moldova

4. Date and place of the next meeting

5. Any other business

AP102.620v01-00 2/7 PV\1157817EN.docx

EN

1. Adoption of the draft agenda

The Co-Chair, Tamar KHULORDAVA, opened the second meeting of the Ad hocWorking Group on the Association Agreement of the Parliamentary Assembly ofEURONEST. She expressed satisfaction with hosting a meeting in Tbilisi and co-chairingit together with Member of the European Parliament Clare Moody. She presented theagenda of the meeting, which was adopted as presented.

2. Follow-up to the first meeting of the working group held in Kyiv on 31 October2017

Ms KHULORDAVA recalled the previous meeting held in Kyiv, where institutionalmechanisms for AA implementation in the three EaP countries had been discussed.

The speaker said that a new study had been launched that would look into institutionalmechanisms for the coordination of the implementation of the Association Agreementswithin both the governments and the parliamentary structures, as well as between thegovernments and the parliaments of the associated countries, namely Georgia, Moldova,Ukraine. The oversight mechanisms in the implementation process would be studied inorder to identify recommendations and areas for future actions.

She noted that, on the basis of agreement reached in Kyiv and on the request of RebeccaHARMS, MEP, the European Parliament had commissioned a study aimed at reviewingand analysing the institutional structures available in the three countries and the supportprovided by EU institutions, and making recommendations for improving existingmechanisms and practices where relevant. The study was expected to be presented at thesubsequent working group meeting, to be held during the EURONEST plenary scheduledfor the end of June in Brussels.

The Co-Chair, Clare MOODY, stressed the necessity of an exchange of views on theachievements and challenges within the implementation process of DCFTA. She notedthat the fourth chapter of the Association Agreement covered a wide range of topics, frommarket access for goods to sanitary and phytosanitary measures, from customs to publicprocurement, and from intellectual property rights to sustainable development, and askedGeorgia’s Deputy Minister of the Economy and Sustainable Development, GenadiARVELADZE, to present information on the impact of DCFTA on the specific spheres ofgreatest interest to the public and the business sector.

Mr ARVELADZE gave information on the progress and achievements of Georgia since2014, when the country signed a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA)with the European Union, and stressed that the Government of Georgia was committed touse all resources for progressive implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive FreeTrade Area Agreement according to the commitments made under the AssociationAgenda. He discussed export and import trends, noting that the list of exported goods was

PV\1157817EN.docx 3/7 AP102.620v01-00

EN

further supplemented by alcohol products and agricultural goods. He said that in 2017export had increased by 29 %, while a wide variety of high‐value agricultural productssuch as grapes, wine, nuts, apples, peaches, and apricots made up a significant share ofGeorgia’s exports.

The Deputy Minister stressed that the Government was actively supporting andcontributing to boosting competitiveness and institution-building. In this respect, hementioned the expansion of the Competition Agency’s functions within the Ministry ofEconomy and Sustainable Development to also cover investment policy. Mr Arveladzealso referred to the specific actions carried out under the information campaigns, andpointed out that over two years the Ministry had conducted more than 150 campaignswithin the different agencies concerning DCFTA-related matters, including EU marketrequirements and standards.

He also referred to a special website dedicated to DCFTA that provided detailedinformation on practical and legislative aspects of DCFTA in Georgia, and stressed thatthis site had turned out to be an excellent tool for obtaining information on DCFTAimplementation.

Mr ARVELADZE said that the Parliament of Georgia had recently ratified a bilateral freetrade agreement with Turkey. Georgia had become a member of the Regional Conventionon Pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin, which sets the rules and governsaccumulation and opportunities for diversification via new products, thus enablingGeorgian producers to import raw materials from Turkey for their products and exportthem to the EU as Georgian finished products.

The Director of the Government Office for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration ofUkraine, Olga STEFANISHYNA, took the floor to present the topic of EU-UkraineAA/DCFTA implementation. She outlined the progress made in approximation measuresvis-à-vis the EU. She stressed that despite the challenges that Ukraine suffers due toRussian aggression, the country keeps its strong commitment to diversify exports andincrease opportunities for Ukrainian companies to produce and export their goodsaccording to new rules and standards.

She drew attention to the increase in exports from 2016 to 2017 as a result of the tradepreferences and benefits brought by DCFTA to Ukrainian businesses. Furthermore, shestressed that Ukraine has actually completed a comprehensive legislative and institutionalprocess of market establishment and market surveillance systems in accordance with EUrules. New legislation had been showcased on companies’ activities and competition, andin particular on state aid to economic entities. She noted that Ukraine had adopted anexport strategy aimed at facilitating diversification of exports and promoting growth.

As she noted, a positive effect of the DCFTA was Ukraine’s readiness to make full use ofopportunities within the framework of the Agreement. She mentioned that the

AP102.620v01-00 4/7 PV\1157817EN.docx

EN

Government, along with the Parliament, was working on the adoption of the necessarylegislation, in particular regarding customs policy, intellectual property and technicalregulations.

Ms STEFANISHYNA noted the fruitful cooperation taking place between theGovernment and the Parliament to support application of the Association Agreement, thetimely adoption of high-quality European legislation, and proper implementation by theauthorities.

In the context of raising awareness, Ms STEFANISHYNA mentioned that Ukrainian large-scale business is well informed about the benefits of DCFTA. She noted that the state-commissioned campaigns tend to be focused on informing SMEs about opportunities andrisks. Owners and senior managers are also informed about the benefits and challenges ofUkraine’s economic integration into the EU internal market.

The Counsellor for Foreign Affairs to the Minister of Economy and Infrastructure of theRepublic of Moldova, Iuliana VITIUC, spoke on the experience and the challenges of theDCFTA implementation process in Moldova. She stated that DCFTA enabled the countryto secure better access to the EU single market and reduced trade barriers.

She underlined that Moldova has recorded 5.4 % GDP growth and 16 % growth in exportsto the EU, and that over 1360 Moldovan companies export to the EU. She also referred tothe list of annual export quotas, which mostly refer to agricultural products, noting that53.4 % of all FDI comes from the EU. She mentioned that 28 EU Member States hadinvested in Moldova and that 4 of the 5 leading investors in the country were EUmembers (the Netherlands, Cyprus, France and Spain).

Ms VITIUC also stressed the fact that Moldova had joined the Pan-Euro-MediterraneanConvention, which had replaced the RM–EU AA II Protocol and permitted diagonalaccumulation for the origin of raw materials from 40 countries and accession to the TradeFacility Agreement (TFA) within the World Trade Organization (WTO). She alsomentioned the ongoing negotiations with the EU regarding the mutual recognition ofAuthorised Economic Operator (AEO) status. In addition, she referred to thesimplification of the procedure for obtaining certificates of origin, including theimplementation of home-based customs clearance procedures.

The counsellor also spoke on the harmonisation of legislation regarding medical devices,medicines for human and veterinary use, chemicals and construction materials. Accordingto her information, over 14 400 European and international standards had been adoptedwhile some 11 600 conflicting Moldovan standards had been annulled as being outdated.She stressed that the Government of Moldova had carried out an institutional reform inorder to optimise the number of monitoring institutions, through a reduction of thenumber of different structural bodies from approximately 70 to 18, including 5independent regulators.

PV\1157817EN.docx 5/7 AP102.620v01-00

EN

The Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia, Carlo NATALE, presented the EU’sperspectives on the implementation of the DCFTAs with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.Mr NATALE referred to the report of the European Commission’s DG Trade in November2017, and stressed that the DCFTAs were ambitious documents with a high impact on theeconomy and sustainable development of the partner countries.

He noted the importance of civil society engagement with government policies, anexample being the so-called domestic advisory group which had organised a debate ontrade and sustainable development at the open civil society forum.

Mr NATALE explained how gradual trade liberalisation had contributed to theenhancement of bilateral trade, and in particular to the rise in exports from the partnercountries to the EU in 2017. Total trade movements with the EU had reached 55 % forMoldova, 41 % for Ukraine and 30 % for Georgia. In terms of positive impact of theDCFTAs on exports from partner countries to the EU, he noted that in the first 8 monthsof 2017 exports from Ukraine to the EU increased by 27 % by comparison with the sameperiod in 2016, while the equivalent figures for Moldova and Georgia were +17 % and+37 % respectively.

He also spoke on the implementation of technical regulations and standards. He pointedout that Moldova and Ukraine wanted to conclude an agreement on conformityassessment and accepting industrial products in order to establish a system equivalent tothat of the EU. Both countries were noting quite good progress in this area. Georgia hadsucceeded in this process, without requesting accession to such an agreement, and wascurrently implementing a reform of technical barriers to trade (TBT). All three partnerswere making a great effort at the level of public authorities and companies to achieveprogress in the sanitary and phytosanitary area. He stressed that while the regulatoryreforms were in the process of development in order to reach equivalence with the EUsystem, a number of companies had obtained authorisation to export to the EU, notably inUkraine but also in Georgia. He said in conclusion that the EU and the Commission’sservices were ready to work together with countries in order to address these challenges.

Irina PRUIDZE (Georgia) commented that DCFTA was certainly an important tool for thepartner countries’ economic development and a means to full realisation of economicpotential. She stressed that Georgia was highly placed in numerous important rankings. Interms of openness to business and ease of doing business, Georgia was in 9th place among190 countries according to World Bank rankings. She also underlined the importance offurther raising awareness in the business sector about the opportunities of the DCFTA.She asked the representatives of Ukraine and Moldova for details of the coordinationprocess between their respective parliaments and governments.

Mr KAKULIA asked the Georgian Deputy Minister to specify if the programmes tosupport SMEs took into consideration the comparative advantage that products produced

AP102.620v01-00 6/7 PV\1157817EN.docx

EN

in Georgia could have on the European market, and whether any such comparativeadvantage was considered when supporting private-sector enterprises.

Mane TANDILYAN (Armenia) expressed interest in the process of DCFTAimplementation under the oversight of the three parliaments, and asked about specialinstruments and stages regarding the monitoring process for the Agreements.

The speaker from Moldova responded that the Ministry was not involved in the legislativedrafting process: it did, however, coordinate the process in line with the AssociationAgreement including the DCFTA, and was also responsible for streamlining the process ofassessment and compliance checks with the EU legislation. The overall process of legalharmonisation was carried out by the Government Office for European Integration.

Olga STEFANISHYNA, speaking for Ukraine, described the procedures for thecooperation between the Parliament and the Government. She explained the functions ofthe Parliamentary Committee for European Integration, which assesses compliance ofdraft laws with EU law. She also mentioned that Ukraine had launched a so-calledtrilateral dialogue format, between the Parliamentary Committee for EuropeanIntegration, a sectoral committee and the Vice-Prime Minister responsible for Europeanintegration. She underlined that within these dialogues different sectoral issues hadalready been discussed, such as transport, food safety and agricultural matters. She alsonoted that the parties had drawn up a legislative work plan for 2018 and outlined thepolitical measures that had been formalised and consolidated in the context of speeding upthe process.

Mr ARVELADZE evoked educational measures targeted on business sectorrepresentatives, and mentioned that the Ministry had been actively working withinternational development organisations such as GIZ (Germany), in the field of promotingand supporting private-sector development.

He also noted that the Government of Georgia engages in close consultation with theprivate sector, civil society and all stakeholders in order to overcome the obstacles in theway of approximation: this had been the context for drawing up the development strategyfor SMEs and the action plan. According to the Deputy Minister, the documents proposedtargeted entrepreneurship education as part of the commitments of the AssociationAgreement.

4. Date and place of next meeting

The Co-Chairs, Tamar KHULORDAVA and Clare MOODY, expressed their gratitude tothe speakers from the three countries.

Ms KHULORDAVA recalled that according to the Bureau decision the AA group was tomeet ‘in principle once a year’. However, noting a positive dynamic within this newlyestablished group, she suggested that it should meet more often (twice a year, on the

PV\1157817EN.docx 7/7 AP102.620v01-00

EN

margins of the committee meetings and the plenary). She expressed the Co-Chairs’intention to address the Bureau with a request to modify the original Bureau decisionaccordingly and thus allow the group to meet more than once a year. It was suggested that‘at least [once a year]’ could be added to the original text.

The Co-Chair also mentioned that the EURONEST bureau meeting would decide on thetopics to be discussed at the next meeting, in line with members’ suggestions. Prior toadjourning the meeting, Ms KHULORDAVA announced that the next meeting wouldtake place in June, in Brussels during the session of the EURONEST ParliamentaryAssembly.

The meeting closed at 10.30.

List of Members

EP

Mr Dariusz ROSATI

Mrs Clare MOODY

Ms Rebecca HARMS

Georgia

Mrs Tamar KHULORDAVA

Mrs Irine PRUIDZE

Mr Sergi KAPANADZE

Moldova

Mr Marian LUPU

Mr Anatolie ZAGORODNII

Mr Vadim PISTRINCIUC

Ukraine

Mr Dmytro LUBINETS

Mr Borys TARASYUK

Mr Vitalii Semenovych KURYLO