EU considers CCU decision a ground for suspending visa-free travel temporarily - Mass Media
The European Union is concerned about the recent decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the activities of anti-corruption bodies, and they may be the basis for temporarily suspending visa-free travel.
The Ambassador of Ukraine in the EU Mykola Tochytskyi stated this in the letter to the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, which is at the disposal of the "EP."
"As our contacts unofficially point out, the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine No. 13-r/2020, which eliminated the key anti-corruption powers of the NAPC, criminal liability for false declarations, is a sufficient basis for the European Commission to launch a mechanism of temporarily suspending visa-free travel," the letter reads.
One of the official triggers for launching the visa-free suspension mechanism is the withdrawal of the third country from the criteria because of which the visa-free regime was introduced.
The decisions of the CCU and the District Administrative Court of Kyiv on the activities of anti-corruption agencies didn't go unnoticed by European partners and caused concern of the European External Action Service and the European Commission. They once again drew attention to the fight against corruption and its priority in the reform agenda in Ukraine. They noted that independent anti-corruption bodies are the ultimate expression of a successful, democratic, legal, investment-attractive Ukraine.
The letter states that independence, institutional capacity, and infrastructure resilience, especially anti-corruption one, are criteria for achieving several short-term and strategic goals in relations with the European Union, including:
- keeping the visa-free travel to the EU for Ukrainian citizens;
- cooperating with the International Monetary Fund, which is a prerequisite for Ukraine receiving EU macro-financial assistance in the amount of 1.2 billion euros, designed to ensure economic stabilization in our country;
- integrating into the EU energy market (independence of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities);
- extending the internal market regime in telecommunications to Ukraine, concluding an agreement on mutual recognition of electronic trust services (independence of the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization);
- integrating into the digital single market (independence of the National Intellectual Property Office), etc.
"Given the specified and to prevent the development of an unfavorable scenario, we would propose to establish a high-level working group to draft amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, which would also include representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Presidential Administration, judicial self-administration, academia, and civil society," the letter reads.
It is emphasized that the key task of this working group should be to work out amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, which would provide for the authority of the Verkhovna Rada to create state bodies with a special status.
We remind that in the ruling from October 27, the Constitutional Court specified that criminal liability for false declaration is "excessive punishment."
On October 27, the Constitutional Court repealed Art. 366-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on criminal liability for entering inaccurate data in the declaration, and also declared the powers of the NAPC to control and verify declarations, their round-the-clock access to the register of declarations, and lifestyle monitoring unconstitutional.
The NAPC stated that the judges made the relevant decision in their own interests. According to the anti-corruption agency, two members of the CCU entered inaccurate data in their declarations and are now probably trying to avoid responsibility.
In turn, the Constitutional Court stated about "constant pressure" from anti-corruption bodies.
