Outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council Meeting: Ukraine

January 20, 2016.

    The Council discussed Ukraine, with a focus on the country’s reform process.
    It praised the reform process put into place by Ukraine in difficult circumstances and expressed its strong expectation that the reforms will continue.
    Ministers shared their views on how the EU could best support the reforms, shortly after provisional application began on 1 January 2016 of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) part of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. They agreed that the DCFTA is an opportunity that requires a common and joint effort if the full benefits are to be felt by both sides.
    The EU has been providing increased support for Ukraine's reform process, through a 12.8 billion support package. Since 2014, the EU and European financial institutions provided financial support of over 7 billion. On 2 December 2015, a new EU programme in support of decentralisation worth 97 million (90 million from the EU budget, 6 million from Germany and 1 million from Poland) was adopted.