Overview of political relations
St Michael's church, Kiev
Since 1991, when Ukraine gained independence, the European Union and Ukraine have developed an increasingly dynamic relationship.
Ukraine is a priority partner country within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership.
The current legal framework for EU-Ukraine relations is provided by the Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA).
The ambitions of both the EU and Ukraine to enhance their relationship created an opportunity to move beyond cooperation towards gradual economic integration and deepening political association.
Therefore, in March 2007 negotiations on a new EU-Ukraine Association Agreement were launched. They have been finished in December 2011. The new agreement envisages among others Political Association and Economic Integration of Ukraine to the EU. EU intends to take steps to sign and ratify the Association Agreement as soon as possible, but this will depend on political circumstances.
Since negotiations and ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement will take some more years before the full Agreement can enter into force, the sides decided to adopt the EU-Ukraine Association Agenda.