Czech Republic prepares proposals for Ukraine's European integration

The Czech Republic has developed concrete proposals for the integration of Ukraine and Moldova in such sectors as energy, agriculture, telecommunications and environmental policy. This was reported by the Euractiv Czechia news and analysis website.

The document says that the proposed rules of European integration will help the Commonwealth countries resist Russian aggression.

The document is divided into four parts.

Energy

The document proposes to integrate Ukraine and Moldova more closely into the EU energy market, in particular by expanding interconnections to ensure stability of energy supply. The Czech Republic proposes to promote co-operation in energy efficiency, nuclear safety and the independence of energy market regulators, which will help reduce these countries' dependence on Russia.

Digital technologies

One of the key proposals is to include Ukraine and Moldova in the EU roaming zone. There is also a need for cooperation on cybersecurity and harmonisation of data protection standards, which would facilitate secure data flows between the countries and the EU.

Agriculture

In the agricultural sector, it is proposed to extend the liberalisation of bilateral trade with Ukraine and Moldova beyond the end of autonomous trade measures in June 2025. The Czech Republic proposes to find a long-term solution to support these countries' exports to the EU.

Environment

The Czech government proposes to support Ukraine and Moldova in meeting EU climate and environmental standards, in particular by modernising low-emission strategies and overcoming the environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Entrepreneurship

The document envisages the use of the Erasmus programme for young entrepreneurs, which will promote business development and cross-border cooperation.

The initiative has already been supported by Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Romania, Germany, Latvia, Slovenia and Sweden. However, the Czech Republic is gathering allies to overcome the resistance of such countries as Hungary and Slovakia, which oppose the rapid integration of Ukraine and Moldova.

As a reminder, Ukraine hopes to open up to six negotiating clusters on the country's accession to the European Union this year.

Poland will hold the presidency of the EU Council for the next six months. Ukraine expects co-operation to push forward the issues of European integration.