PN Member Elmar Brok Discusses EU-Ukraine Agreement

PN Member and German Chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs Elmar Brok discussed the implementation process for the association agreement between the European Union and Ukraine in a recent interview with Deutsche Welle. 

When prompted about the postponement of the economic portion of the free trade agreement to the end of 2015, Brok argued that this is not a true postponement, but that "a contract has been agreed upon, and the implementation of certain technical elements will occur asymmetrically." 

He explained that the implementation is taking place incrementally, as the process comes into effect as a whole. 

Brok cited the possibility of the market power of European countries damaging the Ukrainian economy as a major reason for the incremental approach to implementation. "Within the framework of this transformation process, Ukrainian businesspeople have time to adapt in certain areas so that they can remain competitive," he said. 

Brok also considered the historical example of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, when plans for East Germany to continue to supply goods to the Soviet Union until 1994-1995 were not fulfilled. This caused a collapse of East Germany's economy, a negative effect that Ukraine will be protected from by the current process. 

Brok expressed confidence that changes will not be made to the contract if Russia voices further objections in the coming months, as they were part of the negotiation process which has been concluded. 

In his closing words, "It's just that there are often transitional arrangements. That's normal in business."

PN Member Elmar Brok is a Member of the European Parliament for the German Christian Democratic Party (CDU). He has been in office since 1980 and is currently serving as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.

Read the full interview on the Deutsche Welle website. 

Photo courtesy of the European Parliament.