The European Commission has welcomed the adoption at first reading of the 'European integration' bills by Ukraine's parliament, and urged Kyiv to pass them at second reading, and solve the situation with former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko by Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on November 18.

Peter Stano, spokesman for European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule told this in a written comment to Interfax-Ukraine in Brussels.

"We welcome the adoption in first reading by the Verkhovna Rada today, on Friday, November 8, of the draft legislation on the reform of the General Prosecutor's Office – a significant step in the reform of Ukraine's judiciary - and of the draft legislation for parliamentary elections. This progress must now be consolidated by the prompt adoption of the two laws also in a second reading. In this context, we welcome the calling of an extraordinary session of the Verkhovna Rada next Wednesday," Stano said.

The spokesman also said that Ukraine should currently make a decisive move to address the issue of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. "We fully support the ongoing efforts by the Cox/Kwasniewski mission to this end: their final report to the European Parliament will be of crucial importance," he added.

The EU remains committed to signing the agreement on association and a deep and comprehensive free trade area (AA/DCFTA) in Vilnius, provided there is determined action and tangible progress on the EU benchmarks, as set out by the December 10, 2012 conclusions by the EU Council on Ukraine, Stano said.

"The Vilnius Summit will take place in less than three weeks and the EU will need to take its decision on the possible signing of the AA/DCFTA already at the November 18 meeting of the Foreign Affair Committee. The time for delivery is short," he said.