Ukraine could strengthen the European Union

Ukraine's accession to the EU will strengthen the competitiveness of this association. This opinion was expressed by Foreign Minister Konstantin Gryshchenko in an interview with Channel 5. "Ukraine as part of a free trade zone, and in the future as a full EU member, is one of the factors that would enhance the competitiveness of the Union" - said the minister. Hryshchenko said that negotiations on the establishment of free zones Trade with the EU requires more effort. "Our partners in the EU say that total trade for the EU and Ukraine is about one percent. For us, it is much more, it is more than 30%. Therefore, of course, there is a certain imbalance in terms of what we can get, and a relatively small proportion of what could change the situation as a whole for the EU ", - he stressed. Earlier, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that Ukraine does not agrees with the individual requirements of the EU, put forward by during the negotiation of a free trade area. In particular this concerns the intention of the EU set a "quota curtain for the production of Ukrainian agricultural industry. At the same time the Prime Minister noted that several previous rounds have been very constructive, and came close to an agreement. According to M. Azarov, agreed nine-tenths of the matters governed by the agreement on free trade zone. Ukraine and the EU started negotiations on an Association Agreement in 2007. In early 2008, the parties began negotiations on an agreement on free trade zone, which should be part of the Association Agreement. According to the head of the negotiating group for the European Commission to establish a free trade zone Philippe Kuissona, an agreement on an FTA between the EU and Ukraine will be signed later this year. Ministry of Industry