Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, together with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, opened joint consultations between the Government of Ukraine and the Board of the European Commission in Kyiv on February 2.

As Denys Shmyhal emphasized, over the past year Ukraine had demonstrated remarkable progress in European integration issues and implementation of related reforms. This includes joining ENTSO-E, abolition of quotas and duties on Ukrainian goods, liberalization of transportation, "customs visa-free regime", joining the Digital Europe program, candidate status, hundreds of laws and government regulations aimed at rapprochement with the EU.

"To achieve the next European integration steps, we are finalizing the implementation of 7 recommendations of the European Commission. We are preparing to present the results at the EU-Ukraine Summit and expect a powerful political message on the start of the membership negotiation process," the Prime Minister said.

The Head of the Ukrainian Government expressed his expectation that this spring the European Commission would provide a formal assessment of Ukraine's progress in implementing the seven recommendations along with additional proposals, upon which the European Commission will be able to recommend to the European Council to launch negotiations with Ukraine at the end of 2023.

"We thank you for presenting today the assessment of the level of approximation of Ukrainian legislation to the EU acquis. For our part, we plan to start assessing the implementation of European rules, directives and regulations into Ukrainian legislation. An assessment will be made for each of the 35 chapters. Such an analysis will form the basis for the development of the National Program for the Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation to EU Laws," said Denys Shmyhal.

The Prime Minister also emphasized that Ukraine was hoping to intensify cooperation on the restoration and transformation of the energy sector. In particular, it concerns the expansion of electricity imports to Ukraine up to 2 GW and support for decentralization projects. 

"For example, to launch a large-scale program of solar energy production by Ukrainian households and communities," the Prime Minister suggested.

In addition, Denys Shmyhal emphasized the importance of the EU leadership's readiness to support Ukraine's efforts to implement the Peace Formula initiated by the President of Ukraine. He thanked the European partners for their visit to Kyiv and for their comprehensive assistance to Ukraine in the war for freedom and independence.