Verkhovna Rada and European Parliament ratify Association Agreement

The historic agreement was ratified simultaneously by the two parliaments.

Ukrainian MPs supported bill No.0098 proposed by president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on the ratification of the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one side, and the European Union, the European Nuclear Energy Forum and their member states, on the other side, Korrespondent reports.

As many as 355 MPs voted in favour of the ratification with the required minimum of 226 votes in favour. The Association Agreement was ratified simultaneously by two parliaments – the Ukrainian and European ones – which became an unprecedented event in the EU.

“European integration became the national idea for Ukraine. […] Today’s synchronous ratification will be a holiday not only for Ukraine, but also for the whole united Europe, because it doesn’t exist without Ukraine. I will sign the Law on ratification immediately. I instruct the Government to approve the plan on the implementation of the agreement tomorrow and start implementing it from the first minute,” Petro Poroshenko said before the voting.

The president of Ukraine submitted the bill on the ratification to the Verkhovna Rada on September 15. The EP's Foreign Affairs Committee supported the draft resolution on September 8 that proposed the ratification of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.

On June 27, Ukraine and the EU signed in Brussels the economic part of the Agreement of Association that provides for a free trade zone. Any amendments to the association agreement and the free trade agreement are forbidden. The political part of the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU was signed on March 21.