Ukraine’s Constitutional Court Decision to Affect Visa-Free Regime with the EU

The European Union is concerned about the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on the activities of anti-corruption bodies. This could cause a temporary suspension of the visa-free regime with the EU.

The letter from Mykola Tochytsky, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the European Union, to the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna states this, “European Pravda” edition informed.

“As our contacts remark unofficially, the CCU decision No. 13-r/2020, which abolished the key anti-corruption NAZC powers and cancelled criminal liability for false declarations, is a sufficient reason for the European Commission to launch a mechanism of the visa-free regime temporary suspension,” the letter says.

One of the official triggers for the visa-free suspension mechanism launch is Ukraine’s deviation from the criteria due to which it was introduced.

It was also noted that the resonant decisions of the CCU and the Kyiv District Administrative Court regarding Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies activities did not remain unnoticed by European partners and caused their concern. The EU emphasises that independent anti-corruption bodies are the quintessence of a prosperous, legal, democratic and investment-attractive Ukraine.

To recap, on 28 October, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine issued a decision that found several provisions of Ukraine’s Law “On Corruption Prevention” and criminal liability for declaring unreliable information to be unconstitutional.

The CCU decision caused a loud scandal. Experts, politicians and public figures speak of an attack on anti-corruption bodies and claim that the fight against corruption in Ukraine has virtually stopped from now. The National Security and Defence Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov stated that the decisions of “some state’s authorities” are anti-state and unconstitutional.

Bohdan Marusyak