UBI Symposium VI/UEAF Forum V:
Ukraine and the EU on the Brink of a New Association Agreement:
Free Trade, Energy Security and Democracy
January 25-26, 2012
Kyiv, Ukraine
Programme
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
19:00 Opening
High Level Expert Opening Session, at the same time Session of the Club of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
Moderator:
- Nico Lange, Head of the Kyiv Office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Ukraine
Panelists:
- Pavlo Klimkin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
- F. Stephen Larrabee, RAND, Distinguished Chair in European Security, Washington
- Friedbert Pflüger, Executive Director, European Centre for Energy and Resource Security, King‚Äôs College London
- Petro Poroshenko, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Suggested Topics:
- What are the strategic implications of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement for the European Union and for Ukraine?
- How do domestic developments in Ukraine influence the integration into the EU?
- How should the EU approach the question of Energy security with regards to Ukraine?
- What do Association and DCFTA of Ukraine mean for Russia-Ukraine and EU-Russia relations?
- What is the strategic outlook for developments in the European Union and the Eastern Neighborhood for 2012?
20:30 Reception
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
09:00 Registration and Coffee
09:30 Opening
Chair:
- Nico Lange, Head of the Kyiv Office of Konrad-Adenauer- Stiftung in Ukraine
Key Note Speech:
- José Manuel Pinto Teixeira, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine
10:00-11:30 Panel 1: EU-Ukraine Relations
Moderator:
- Inna Pidluska, Deputy Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation
Panelists:
- Michael Borg-Hansen, Ambassador of the Royal Danish Embassy to Ukraine
- Yevgen Perelygin, Head of Department of European Integration of the Administration of the President of Ukraine
- Borys Tarasyuk, Chair of the Committee for European Integration, Ukrainian Parliament
- Kataryna Wolczuk, Deputy Director of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham
Suggested Topics:
- What is the state of affairs between the EU and Ukraine after the summit in December 2011 and the delay of the Association Agreement?
- How can the process of initialing, signing and ratification be continued?
- How can the EU influence the development of rule of law and democracy within Ukraine?
- What will be the influence by the parliamentary elections and Euro 2012?
- How can civil society participate and have influence on the process?
11:30-12:00 Coffee Break
12:00-13:30 Panel 2: EU-Ukraine Association Agreement: Prospects of Implementation
Moderator:
- Janusz Bugajski, Director of the New European Democracies Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, USA
Panelists:
- Vsevolod Chentsov, Director of the Department for the European Union, Foreign Ministry of Ukraine
- Hannes Schreiber, Head of Political Section, Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine
- Igor Popov, First Deputy Head of the Agency for Civil Service, Ukraine
- Oleksandr Sushko, Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, Ukraine
- Viktoria Humenyuk, Civil Expert Council at the Ukrainian Part of the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Committee
Suggested Topics:
- What are the legally binding commitments for Ukraine within the new agreement?
- What kind of legislation needs to be passed and are there stable majorities in favor?
- Is the Ukrainian administration ready to implement the commitments?
- What timeframes and roadmaps for implementation of the agreement’s chapters are desirable and realistic?
- Who are the major stakeholders from economy, society and administration and how will the influence the implementation process?
- How can the implementation of the agreement be monitored and measured?
13:30-15:00 Lunch
15:00-16:30 Panel 3: Energy Community, Energy Dialogue and Energy Security
Moderator:
- Mykhailo Honchar, Centre ‚”NOMOS” Slavtcho Neykov, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, Vienna
Panelists:
- Oleksandr Chalyi, President of Grant Thornton Ukraine
- Oleksiy Leshchenko, Vice-President, Gorshenin Institute
- Jonas Grätz, researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
Suggested Topics:
- What are the main factors of EU-Ukraine Energy cooperation within the new agreement and inside of the European Energy Community?
- Should the EU be part of a consortium concerning the Ukrainian Gas Transit System?
- What are the perspectives for Russia-Ukraine relations in the gas sector and what kind of impact do they have on EU-Ukraine relations?
- How can Ukraine improve European Energy Security?
16:30-17:00 Coffee Break
17:00-18:30 Panel 4: Economic Development, Business Relations and Business Environment
Moderator:
- Neil Buckley, Eastern Europe Editor, Financial Times
Panelists:
- Valeryj Piatnytskyj, Government Commissioner for European Integration, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine
- Marius Vismantas, Regional Coordinator for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, Financial and Private Sector Development, World Bank
- Ihor Burakovsky, Director of the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, Kyiv
Suggested Topics:
- What are the economic gains and losses for Ukraine and the EU over short-, mid- and long term perspective through the DCFTA?
- What major changes for Ukrainian business will the DCFTA bring?
- Is Ukrainian business ready to be competitive within the DCFTA?
- What are the expectations of foreign investors? Which priorities for implementation of the DCFTA should be set from the perspective of Ukrainian economy?