UEPLAC Steering Committee .: UEPLAC

Left to right: Ms Natalia Prokopovith, MP, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on European Integration Issues, Mr Oleksander Lavrynovych, Minister of Justice of Ukrane, Ms Olena Zerkal, Head of the State Department on Legal Approximation

UEPLAC Steering Committee met on 14 December 2006 to discuss the Inception Report, to consider the Project approach, general planning for the whole duration of the Project and requested deviations, to advise the Project team on the main priorities of the Beneficiary and other partners, to approve planning for the next reporting period and initial planning for the whole duration of the Project.

The Project Team is grateful to the Beneficiary and all of its partners for their co-operative approach and guidance.

Dr Jolanta Taczynska, Project Team Leader, reported to the Steering Committee on the work that has been undertaken since the launching of the Project. Co-operation with the Project partners and the Beneficiary was described as open and fruitful, particularly, as concerns the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Committee on European Integration Issues of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

UEPLAC’s Team described to the Steering Committee the Project Team approach to the implementation of its aims and goals. Recalling the Communication of the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on Strengthening the Neighbourhood Policy, it was highlighted that the Project Team, upon detailed assessment of the Project environment and clarification with the Beneficiary and the Partners, selected the approach that would allow concentration of the Project activities by the spheres of competence rather than by the initially chosen components. Given the dynamic context of the development of the legal approximation process, this approach would facilitate responding in a most effective and flexible manner to the Beneficiary’s and Project partners’ assistance requests. It was underlined that the new approach of the Project Team consists of developing the clear ideas concerning enhanced legal approximation process and defining tasks in co-operation with the Project partners that would allow achieving sustainable results. Hope for the continuous openness of the Project’s main beneficiary and partners on the way of pioneering of the whole scope of the legal approximation for the first time in the ENP country was expressed and the Project’s demand-driven approach was emphasised for the purposes of a successful mise-en-ouevre of the commonly designed Project strategy, also through support in ensuring proper prioritisation and co-ordination both between the Ukrainian and international partners. To this end, the Steering Committee was asked to approve a certain degree of flexibility in planning both for the next reporting period and for the whole duration of the Project that would serve commonly agreed and balanced strategy and concentrate on the well-defined spheres.

The Steering Committee approved the Inception Report unanimously, taking into account all amendments and changes proposed during the discussions with Project beneficiary and counterparts.

The Steering Committee also elected Mr Olexander Lavrynovych, Minister of Justice of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the UEPLAC IV and approved requested changes and deviations to the Terms of Reference; Project approach and activities implementation by the spheres of competence; centralised procedure of forwarding written assistance requests; activities planning for the next reporting period, subject to written correlations through further specific requests on behalf of the Beneficiary and partners and according to the agreed procedure, and activities planning for the whole duration of the Project as well as decided to convene its next meeting upon the submission of the next intermediary progress report.