Ukraine has chosen the clear way of reforms and modernization in the direction of European standards and the EU is willing to help Ukrainian people to reach this goal. Currently the EU together with the Ukrainian government is determining the priorities of support for the period of 2018-2020.
Environment-People-Law was present at the meeting and reminded once again that not all EU funding leads to positive results, in particular the long-term fruitful work on development of the laws “On Environmental Empact Assessment” and “On Strategic Environmental Assessment” was blocked by the Presidential veto. EPL presented the official position of the environmental NGOs on that issue and delivered to the EU Delegation to Ukraine a written statement, which can be viewed below.
Quo Vadis, Ukraine?
Ukrainian environmental NGOs express their deepest disappointment about the so far unsuccessful process of launching the instruments of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Ukraine. The laws on EIA and SEA were adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament on 4 October 2016 but were vetoed by the President of Ukraine on 31 October 2016. The vetoes were imposed in violation of the timeframes established by the Constitution of Ukraine and were accompanied with unspecific and ungrounded commentaries formulated in very general terms, which we consider to be a deliberate maneuver to make the enactment of the above laws impossible. By imposing the veto on the laws that are aimed to transpose the EU EIA and SEA Directives under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and bring Ukraine into compliance with a number of international obligations, including those under the UNECE Espoo and Aarhus Conventions and the Energy Community Treaty, the President consciously or unconsciously closes the doors for the EU standards of environmental safety and for Ukraine’s EU integration perspectives in the field of environmental protection. The Ukrainian business cannot use the EU funding, meanwhile ignoring the EU principles of safe and healthy environment. It is absolutely unacceptable to declare the EU vector of Ukraine’s development while, in fact, blocking the initiatives which are the essential prerequisite of any tangible progress in this direction. We believe it is important to consider this issue at the 18th EU-Ukraine Summit and remind Ukrainian authorities about Ukraine’s environmental commitments. We really hope that the Ukrainian authorities finally realize that without effective EIA and SEA systems the European Ukraine will remain a myth.
International organization “Environmental – People – Law”
Bureau of Environmental Investigations
All-Ukrainian Environmental NGO “MAMA-86”
Environmental group “Pechenegi”
Youth branch of the National ecological centre of Ukraine
