15:31 01.10.2014

Changes to EU-Ukraine Association Agreement can only be made at request of two parties, Barroso tells Putin

2 min read
Changes to EU-Ukraine Association Agreement can only be made at request of two parties, Barroso tells Putin

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin following his letter on September 17, where the latter asked to reconsider parts of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and EU.

"I take however this opportunity to underline that the Association Agreement remains a bilateral agreement and that, in line with international law, any changes to it can only be made at the request of one of the parties and with the agreement of the other, according to the mechanisms foreseen in the text and the respective internal procedures of the parties," says a letter released by the EC press service.

The EC president welcomed the constructive engagement from all sides in the trilateral ministerial meeting on the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area on September 12.

"The conclusions reached at that meeting were endorsed by all participants and set out in a joint ministerial statement," he said.

"I should emphasize that the proposal to delay the provisional application of the DCFTA is linked to continuation of the CIS-FTA preferential regime, as agreed in the joint ministerial statement. In this context, we have strong concerns about the recent adoption of a decree by the Russian government proposing new trade barriers between Russia and Ukraine. We consider that the application of this decree would contravene the agreed joint conclusions and the decision to delay the provisional application of the trade related part of the Association Agreement," reads a letter from Barroso.

He said that the joint ministerial statement also foresees further consultations on how to address concerns raised by Russia.

"We are ready to continue engaging on how to tackle the perceived negative impacts to the Russian economy resulting from the implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area," the EC president said.

He said he wishes to note that the joint conclusions reached at the Ministerial meeting state clearly that all these steps "are part and parcel of a comprehensive peace process in Ukraine, respecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as its right to decide on its destiny."

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