On April 28-29, an official screening of the compliance of Ukrainian legislation with the EU acquis under Title 20 – Entrepreneurship and Industrial Policy – took place in Brussels.

The online meeting was opened by the Head of the Delegation and Chief Negotiator Olga Stefanishyna. Ukraine’s experience in adapting Ukrainian legislation to EU norms was presented by Deputy Minister of Economy Tetiana Berezhna, Deputy Minister of Economy Andriy Teliupa, Deputy Director of the Regulatory Policy and Entrepreneurship Department of the Ministry of Economy Oleksandr Vasylchuk, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the State Space Agency of Ukraine, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine, the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine.

Preparations for the screening lasted several months and included interaction between the structural units of the Ministry of Economy, relevant government agencies and the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

During the sessions, the Ministry of Economy team presented progress in the following areas:

• Development of industrial policy – modernization of industrial ecosystems, implementation of Smart Specialization principles, support for green transformation of production.
• Support for small and medium-sized businesses – participation in the EU’s Single Market Program, stimulating cluster development, and simplifying access to finance.
• Development of light industry – support for enterprises that maintain production, exports and jobs even in times of war, as well as implementation of circular economy principles.
• Corporate sustainability and business responsibility – harmonization of policies with European standards of corporate responsibility and sustainable development.
• Deregulation and digitalization – simplification of regulation, development of digital services for business.
• Development of the social economy – support for businesses focused on social needs and community recovery.
• Restoration of the steel industry – presentation of plans to rebuild production facilities and integrate into European supply chains.

“We have presented practical tools to support business and industrial development: the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% program, grants for the creation and development of processing plants, solutions for production modernization and the introduction of Smart Specialization in the regions. The European Commission positively assessed the consistency of our approaches, the real results of existing programs and Ukraine’s progress in adapting policies to EU standards,” said Andrii Teliupa.

The European Commission noted the high level of preparation of the Ukrainian delegation. Among the issues that require additional attention is the provision for faster implementation of the Late Payment Directive.

“The positive result of the screening is an important step in the negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. We will continue to work on the adaptation of legislation to EU law, the implementation of European approaches to supporting business and industry, and the implementation of priority reforms,” added Andrii Teliupa.

Source: https://me.gov.ua/