Ukraine is no longer interested in the customs union with the EU

The Cabinet of Ministers named the priorities to be discussed at the Association Council meeting. Ukraine abandoned the idea of creating a customs union with the EU, but counts on simplification of customs procedures, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Dmitry Kuleba said, on Tuesday, January 21, Europravda reports. The Deputy Prime Minister outlined the key priorities that Ukraine will defend during the Association Council meeting, planned to be held in Brussels on January 28. Thus, he specified the integration into the energy and digital markets of the EU, obtaining "industrial visa-free" and creating a "new agenda in the field of justice and freedom." "In addition, association to the European Green Agreement is on the agenda, and this will include almost all sectors updating the terms of trade," Kuleba. He recalled that in 2018-2019, Ukraine fully or partially exhausted European quotas for 32 commodity items "This means that we are already cramped in these conditions," he explained. Recall that the idea of Ukraine joining the Schengen Union, the Customs European Union, the Unified Energy Union and becoming a member of a single aviation space with the EU was set forward by ex-president Petro Poroshenko.