Site navigation
Website content
Countries
Ukraine
The EU is in negotiations for a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with Ukraine as part of a future Association Agreement. The last round of negotiations took place on 19-23 September 2011.
The EU is Ukraine's foremost commercial partner and accounts for about one third of its external trade. The EU believes that closer economic integration (in the overall context of a political association) can be a key factor in economic growth for Ukraine.
The EU was a strong proponent for Ukrainian WTO membership, effective since 16 May 2008. Building on that membership the EU and Ukraine immediately launched negotiations for an agreement on a deep and comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA). As part of the future Association Agreement, the DCFTA is designed to deepen Ukraine's access to the European market and to encourage further European investment in Ukraine.
Ukraine's membership of the WTO in 2008 has deepened an already promising economic partnership
Trade in goods
- EU exports to Ukraine 2010: €17.3 billion
- EU imports from Ukraine 2010: €11.4 billion
Ukraine's primary exports to the EU are iron, steel, mining products, agricultural products, and machinery. EU exports to Ukraine are dominated by machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, and agricultural products.
Foreign Direct Investment
- EU investment stocks in Ukraine in 2008: €19.8 billion (Later figures not yet available from Eurostat)
From 2007 to 2008, FDI outward stocks from EU 27 countries grew by more than 10% in Ukraine. In 2009 EU investments into Ukraine amounted to €3.4 billion.
GSP
Ukrainian exports to the EU are to a very large extent liberalised thanks to the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) granted by the EU to Ukraine since 1993. In 2010, the GSP utilisation rate reached a rather good level of 72.2% of the eligible products. With € 2.15 billion of GSP preferential imports to the EU, Ukraine ranks 12th among the most effective users of the system. Preferential imports include machinery and mechanical appliances, plants, oils, base metals, chemicals and textiles.
WTO
Ukraine acceded to the WTO in May 2008. The EU has always believed that WTO membership can play a key role in supporting Ukraine's economic reform, especially in the context of a transition economy. In joining the WTO, Ukraine benefits from secure access to the markets of all WTO members and commits to providing the kind of stable trade and investment environment that will attract further trade and investment.
From WTO to new FTA
In March 2007 the EU and Ukraine launched bilateral negotiations of a new Association Agreement that will replace the present Partnership and Cooperation Agreement that dates from 1998.
The Free Trade Area (FTA) will be embedded in the new Association Agreement as an integral element alongside others, such as political, social, and sectoral co-operation. It will be the first of a new generation of deep and comprehensive FTA, covering all trade-related areas (including services, intellectual property rights, customs, public procurement, energy-related issues, competition, et cetera) and also tackling the so-called "beyond the border" obstacles through deep regulatory approximation with the trade-related EU acquis.
There have been 18 rounds of negotiation since February 2008.
Bilateral relations
Trade relations with key trading partners
Facts, figures, latest developments and archives.
Other countries: