THE UKRAINIAN PART OF THE EU-UKRAINE CIVIL SOCIETY PLATFORM HAS BEEN SET UP

As provisional application of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement has started on 1
November 2014, institutional setup envisaged by the Association Agreement has been launched.
Civil society organizations were the first to take action and start building up the EUUkraine
Civil Society Platform, which will be established in accordance with the Articles 469-
470 of the Association Agreement.
The process was formally launched in May 2014, when an initiative group gathered. In
July, after the Association Agreement was signed, the Steering Committee of the Constituent
Assembly of the Ukrainian side of the Civil Society Platform (CSP) was formed.
On 7 November, the Constituent Assembly of the Ukrainian side of the CSP, which was
held in President Hotel (Kyiv), has finalized preparatory work.
According to the Association Agreement, the CSP “consists of members of the European
Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the one hand, and representatives of civil society on
the side of Ukraine, on the other, as a forum to them to meet and exchange views.” The Platform
should be informed about the decisions and recommendations of the Association Council
(bilateral governmental body of the Association), as well as provide its own recommendations
which should be considered by official bodies of Ukraine and the EU.
The process of establishment of the Ukrainian side of the CSP was transparent, public,
inclusive and open. More than 250 NGOs took part in establishing the Platform, while 165
participated in the Constituent Assembly directly.
The European side that is responsible for establishment of the CSP is the European
Economic and Social Committee (EESC), and to sustain cooperation with the EEAC was one of
the priorities of the constituent process.
As a result of preliminary consultations with the EESC, number of the CSP members will
be 30 (15 + 15), equal number from both sides. So, the main goal of the constituent process was
to propose transparent and inclusive procedure which would enable to elect 15 representatives of
civil society and social partners who would constitute the first composition of the CSP from the
Ukrainian side.


15 working groups were created to fit key thematic priorities of the Association
Agreement (see list below). Any organization taking part in the constituent process had an
opportunity to take part in up to 5 working groups. Candidates for group coordinators were
nominated in every working group. It was decided that these were coordinators of 15 working
groups who would enter the Ukrainian part of the CSP as members.
Besides, it was decided to guarantee interests of potential minorities within each group.
Candidates who were second in the race for coordinating positions automatically became
substitutes (deputies). They will have right to vote in the CSP when coordinators are absent, or
when coordinators delegate them to vote. A substitute will also be the first candidate for
leadership in case of rotation, if a decision on rotation is made.
As a result of a secret ballot during the Constituent Assembly, coordinators and
substitutes were elected in 15 working groups (find the list below). The Constituent Assembly
has provided a yearly mandate for this composition of the EU-Ukraine CSP.
The participants of the Constituent Assembly were greeted by the Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Olena Zerkal’, Chairman of the Committee on European Integration
in the Parliament of Ukraine Hryhoriy Nemyria, the Deputy Director of the Government Office
for European Integration Mykola Kuzio, member of the European Economic and Social
Committee Andrzej Adamczyk, Head of Political Section of the EU Delegation to Ukraine
Hannes Schreiber, member of the European Commission's Support Group for Ukraine Remi
Duflot, and Head of Mission for the EUAM in Ukraine Kalman Mizsei.
The participants of the Constituent Assembly have reached a decision to create an
editorial commission in order to finalize a project of Rules of Procedure which was proposed by
the steering committee of the Constituent Assembly. The document will be finalized in two
weeks after the date of the Constituent Assembly. It will take into account propositions that have
been presented during the Assembly, as well as the ones submitted by the Assembly participants
electronically to eu.ua.platform@gmail.com.
As one of the elected members of the CSP Oleksandr Sushko, Research Director for the
Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, has outlined, the Ukrainian side of the CSP should set up
quality communication in three directions. First, communication inside the CSP should work to
further improve inclusiveness; to take into account as many ideas by the participants of the CSP,
as possible, in particular, by the ones who were not elected; to set up a transparent and
democratic rotation mechanism for the CSP participants. Second, an effective contact with the
public authorities, such as the Cabinet of Ministers, the Parliament and the President, should be
built. Third, constructive partnerships should be established with the EU partners, the European
Economic and Social Committee, as well as other EU institutions and EU member states.
The Assembly commenced with presentations by the 15 newly elected coordinators of the
Ukrainian part of the Civil Society Platform and their substitutes. The CSP have agreed to reach
agreement on all organizational concerns as soon as possible. The decision was made to
address the EESC with a request to appoint 15 representatives to the CSP from the EU
part as soon as possible and to hold the first Constituent Meeting of the CSP in its full
capacity no later than January 2015.
The CSP is always open to accept new participants – NGOs, trade unions and business
and employer associations who aspire to facilitate effective reforms for the European integration
of Ukraine in implementing the Association Agreement.
As the result of the Constituent Assembly of the Ukrainian side of the EU-Ukraine CSP,
the following coordinators and their substitutes were elected for 1 year term:
Working group 1 “EU-Ukraine political dialog, foreign and security policy”:
? Coordinator: Oleksandr Sushko, research director at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic
Cooperation
? Substitute: Pavlo Zhovnirenko, Head of the Board at the Centre for Strategic Studies
Working group 2 “Democratic reforms, rule of law”:
? Coordinator: Andriy Krupnyk, Head at All-Ukrainian NGO “Association for
Community Self-Organization Assistance”
? Substitute: Sergiy Kishchenko, Executive Director at the International Centre for Policy
Studies
Working group 3 “Human rights, gender equality and non-discrimination”:
? Coordinator: Yulia Tyshchenko, Program Director at the Ukrainian Centre for
Independent Political Research
? Substitute: Oleksandra Matviychuk, Head of the Board at the Center for Civil Liberties
Working group 4 “Fighting corruption and fraud, state finance, public procurement,
competition policy (including state aid)
”:
? Coordinator: Oleksiy Khmara, Executive Director at Transparency International Ukraine
? Substitute: Denys Chernikov, expert at Eastern Europe Foundation, core expert for
European integration group at the Reanimation Reform Package
Working group 5 “Migration policy (including asylum policy), labour migration, visa policy”:
? Coordinator: Iryna Sushko, Head of the Civic Initiative “Europe Without Barriers”
? Substitute: Vasyl Andreev, Head of Construction and Building Materials Industry
Workers’ Union of Ukraine PROFBUD
Working group 6 “Non-tariff measures, protective measures, customs clearance (including
rules to establish the country of origin of goods)”:

? Coordinator: Valeriy Luhovets, Head of the Board at the CSO “Customs Brotherhood”
(“Mytne Bratstvo”)
? Substitute: Ruslan Illichov, Director General at the Federation of Employers of Ukraine
Working group 7 “Tariff measures, transitional periods, exclusions, trade regime with third
countries”:

? Coordinator: Veronika Movchan, Research Director at the Institute for Economic
Research and Policy Consulting
? Substitute: Andriy Rozov, Expert of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine
Working group 8 “Technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, geographical
indications, product safety”:

? Coordinator: Viacheslav Roi, Head of the Federation of trade unions of workers of small
and average enterprise of Ukraine
? Substitute: Maryna Kozlovska, expert at the International Charity Organization
“Ukrainian Charity League”
Working group 9 “Trade in services (including protection of consumers), movement of capital,
establishment and maintenance of enterprises”:

? Coordinator: Tetiana Tymoshenko, Director of the Information Agency “Slovo i Dilo”
? Substitute: Pavlo Tsyrul’, Head of the Board at the All-Ukrainian Union of Employers
“All-Ukrainian Federation of Employers in Tourism of Ukraine”
Working group 10 “Industrial, scientific and technical cooperation, copyright protection,
information society”:

? Coordinator: Ivan Kulchytskyi, President of the CSO “Agency for European
Innovations”
? Substitute: Yevhen Silvestrov, Coordinator of “Economics and Entrepreneurship” Group
at the Civic Platform “Nova Kraina” (“New Country”)
Working group 11 “Environment”:
? Coordinator: Zoriana Mishchuk, Executive Director at All-Ukrainian Ecological Civic
Organization “MAMA-86”
? Substitute: Fedir Barulin, Head of the Board at the Kherson Oblast’ Civic Organization
“Regional Council of Entrepreneurs”
Working group 12 “Energy and transportation”:
? Coordinator: Olena Pavlenko, President of the CSO “Dixi Group”
? Substitute: Roman Zinchenko, Head of the Board at the Ukrainian Network of Energy
Innovations Greencubator
Working group 13 “Employment, labour rights, safe and healthy work environment, social
policy”:

? Coordinator: Rostyslav Dzundza, Director of the All-Ukrainian Charity Foundation
“Coalition of HIV-Servicing Organizations”
? Substitute: Ella Libanova, Director of the Civic Organization “Ukrainian Centre for
Social Reforms”
Working group 14 “Education, youth, culture”:
? Coordinator: Halyna Protsiv, Head of the Board at the Ecological Club “Krai” (“Land”)
? Substitute: Natalia Limonova, Coordinator of “Education and Science” Group at the
Civic Platform “Nova Kraina” (“New Country”)
Working group 15 “Cross-border and interregional cooperation”:
? Coordinator: Rostyslav Tomenchuk, Head of the Board at the Ukrainian Institute for
International Politics
? Substitute: Volodymyr Prytula, Program Director in European Integration at the
International Centre for Policy Studies
As a result, the Ukrainian side of the EU-Ukraine CSP as of 10 November 2014 will be
comprised of the following persons: Oleksandr Sushko, Andriy Krupnyk, Yulia Tyshchenko,
Oleksiy Khmara, Iryna Sushko, Valeriy Luhovets, Veronika Movchan, Viacheslav Roi, Tetiana
Tymoshenko, Ivan Kulchytskyi, Zoriana Mishchuk, Olena Pavlenko, Rostyslav Dzundza,
Halyna Protsiv, Rostyslav Tomenchuk.