1. Eastern Partnership Index 2017
Charting progress in European Integration, Democratic Reforms, and Sustainable Development

2. The EaP Index Civil society Over 70 experts involved 6 countries
2 dimensions
6 sectors
43 indicators

3. The EaP Index structure
Approximation
Deep and Sustainable Democracy
EU Integration and Convergence
Sustainable Development
Linkage
International Security, Political Dialogue and Co-operation
Sectoral Co-operation and Trade Flows
Citizens in Europe

4. The EaP Index structure
Approximation
Deep and Sustainable Democracy
EU Integration and Convergence
Sustainable Development
Linkage
International Security, Political Dialogue and Co-operation
Sectoral Co-operation and Trade Flows
Citizens in Europe

5. Main results
Armenia standing on equal footing on a number of elements with the three AA countries
Approximation is proceeding but pace is slow and reforms are not consolidated
Ukraine on top for the second year
Linkages, overall, comprising political, economical, and people to people linkages are increasing
We see them increasing, all the rows are up. This is mostly thanks to trade flows and people to people contacts. For those of you at the meeting celebrating the 10 years of EaP this will look like a familiar picture. Where the challenges persist in terms democratic rights but trade and people to prople can be considered increased and succcessful.

6. EaP Index Ukraine
Ukraine led in Approximation, where it narrowly led Moldova and Georgia in Deep and Sustainable Democracy, within which Ukraine scored highest on Freedom of Speech and Assembly, and on Equal Opportunities and Non-Discrimination.
In EU Integration and Convergence, Ukraine remained the frontrunner, followed by Moldova. However, the two Association Agreement signatories remained the worst two performers in terms of the business climate. Ukraine, together with Georgia, led on freedom, security and justice.
Ukraine also led on Environment and Climate Policy and Transport: Regulatory Policy. In Sustainable Development, Ukraine closely followed the frontrunner Azerbaijan and second-placed Belarus. In Linkage, Ukraine remained in third position, but slipped behind Georgia and Moldova in International Security, Political Dialogue and Co-operation. Ukraine did retain leadership in Political Dialogue with the EU and Border Security, but fell behind Moldova in Sectoral Co-operation and Trade Flows. Although still behind Georgia, Moldova and Armenia, Ukraine improved in Citizens in Europe, in part as a result of the achievement of visa-free travel to the Schengen countries.

7. Zooming into Approximation
Deep and Sustainable Democracy
Contributing indicators:
Democratic Rights and Elections, including Political Pluralism
Human Rights and Protection Against Torture
State Accountability
Independent Media
Freedom of Speech and Assembly
Independent Judiciary
Equal Opportunities and Non-Discrimination
Fight Against Corruption
Public Administration

8. Zooming into Deep and Sustainable Democracy
New

9. Human Rights and Protection Against Torture
0,77
+ Strong Legal Framework
Worsening of HR in Crimea and Donbass
HR protection for IDPs
- Ukraine strong framework
- Deterioration of Human rights in Crimea and Donbass
- Protection of Human Rights of IDPs. Strategy adopted but implementation very slow to come

10. Independent Media Violence against journalists
Government failure to prosecute
Media autonomy
“patriotic” reporting
Violence against journalists remained a problem in Ukraine. While the majority of attacks were perpetrated by non-state actors, the inaction of the government raised concerns.18 The government continued to block Russian television channels from broadcasting in the country, including the independent Russian television station Dozhd.19 Freedom House questioned the government’s commitment to media autonomy, not least its attempts to foster “patriotic” reporting.20

11. Fight against corruption
The EU and civil society should monitor the completion of the design and establishment of the anti-corruption institutional framework in Ukraine, including the selection process for judges to the High Anti-Corruption Court.
Deficiencies in the realm of sustainable democracy and human rights has been longstanding areas of concern in the eyes of international partners. The reluctance of the Ukrainian authorities to fully implement the anti-corruption package of reforms influenced negatively not only the political track in relations with the EU, but also co-operation with the IMF and other international financial organisations. Anti-corruption reform is considered one of the most difficult areas for achieving progress. The challenge lies in putting in place all the necessary anti-corruption institutions and at the same time ensuring the cohesion of their procedural work. In 2017, some backsliding was evident, especially when it came to the High Anti-Corruption Court. The Law on the High Anti-Corruption Court was adopted in June 2018, but even then only under enormous international pressure.11 To guarantee a smooth launch and the effective functioning of the future court, it will still be necessary to pass amendments to a number of other laws (the Law on Judiciary and Status of Judges, as well as the Law on the State Budget).
A particularly negative development in was the emergence of a growing number of conflicts between the newly created bodies involved in fighting corruption. The most spectacular inter-agency standoff took place between the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), including over the dismissal by SAPO of criminal cases against certain public officials.12 Concerns were also raised over the activity of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NAZK), which is in charge of monitoring the process of declaration of assets by civil servants. As of June 2018, the number of e-declarations checked by NAZK was unacceptably small (around 330 out of more than 1m declarations in the database).

12. Public Administration Reform
Unlike efforts on anti-corruption and judicial reform, public administration reform has seen substantial progress in Ukraine. In 2017, a reorganisation of the ministries was launched. Directorates in charge of policy development, strategic planning and European integration were created in 10 pilot ministries, two government agencies and in the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The selection process for directors-general drew lessons learned from the selection of state secretaries at the ministries back in 2016.
By the end of 2017, more than 800 positions had been created for reform specialists, and the EU has earmarked more than €100m to support the hiring of such specialists until In the area of administrative services delivery and open data development, the government has introduced 35 e-services for citizens and businesses (registering service portals, social services, services for construction, etc)., and the open data portal, data.gov.ua, was launched in Ukraine was placed 31st (out of 94 ranked countries) in the Global Open Data Index.15

13. Public Administration Reform
Reorganisation of Ministries launched in 2017 bears fruit. Open Data portal launched a strenghtened.
Unlike efforts on anti-corruption and judicial reform, public administration reform has seen substantial progress in Ukraine. In 2017, a reorganisation of the ministries was launched. Directorates in charge of policy development, strategic planning and European integration were created in 10 pilot ministries, two government agencies and in the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The selection process for directors-general drew lessons learned from the selection of state secretaries at the ministries back in 2016.
By the end of 2017, more than 800 positions had been created for reform specialists, and the EU has earmarked more than €100m to support the hiring of such specialists until In the area of administrative services delivery and open data development, the government has introduced 35 e-services for citizens and businesses (registering service portals, social services, services for construction, etc)., and the open data portal, data.gov.ua, was launched in Ukraine was placed 31st (out of 94 ranked countries) in the Global Open Data Index.15

14. Zooming into Linkage
International Security, Political Dialogue and Co-operation
Contributing indicators:
Political Dialogue with the EU
Intergovernmental Co-operation and Engagement in EaP Multilateral Events/Panels
International Security Co-operation
Border Security
EU Funding of Security Projects
Development Assistance from the EU and EU Member States

15. Political dialogue and Security
Only country holding an annual summit with the EU
Only EaP country with an Administrative Agreement with the European Defence Agency.
Host country to a CSDP mission (EU Advisory Mission (EUAM) Ukraine);
No consultations with EU Military Committee (EUMC) and the EU Political and Security Committee (PSC)
Compared with previous years, 2017 can be considered as a year of enforced and productive relations between Ukraine and the EU. The President paid a visit to the capital of the EU twice (in June and in November). The Prime Minister also paid two visits to Brussels (in February and December), and the 19th Ukraine-EU Summit was held in Kyiv on July The meeting took place to the backdrop of two symbolic landmarks: the granting of the visa-free regime between the Schengen countries and Ukraine on 11 June and the ratification of the Association Agreement by the EU on 11 July, just on the eve of the Summit. That decision paved the way for the AA’s full entry into force on 1 September Political dialogue with the other two Eastern Partnership countries to have signed Association Agreements with the EU, namely Georgia and Moldova, intensified, while Ukraine’s relations with the other three EaP countries evolved less positively, especially when it came to co-operation in multilateral formats. For instance, Belarus and Armenia often watered down the political messages Ukraine sought to convey in joint statements. That was partly the case with the EaP Summit Declarations in Riga (2015) and Brussels (2017) respectively --
Ukraine was once again the frontrunner in political dialogue with the EU, followed by Moldova and Georgia. Among the non-AA countries, Azerbaijan scored the highest, followed by Armenia, while Belarus lagged far behind. Ukraine remained the only country that held an annual summit with the EU, and the leading EaP country in terms of high-level visits to Ukraine by top EU officials and visits by Ukraine’s officials to Brussels. Ukraine was the focus of 23 European External Action Service statements in 2017, followed by second-placed Azerbaijan with 19 (including some statements critical of the government’s human rights record). In the reporting period, the EU-Georgia Association Committee met once, the same as the corresponding Committees for Ukraine and Moldova. The equivalent Co-operation Committees in the non-AA countries did not meet in the case of Armenia, Azerbaijan or Belarus in The AA countries’ subcommittees met 12 times in the case of Moldova, 11 in the case of Ukraine, and seven in the case of Georgia. Political parties’ representation among the political groupings of the European Parliament were in place in all six countries, ranging from nine affiliated parties in Moldova and eight in Georgia to six in each of Ukraine, Belarus and Armenia, and three in Azerbaijan.
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The security situation remained tense throughout the EaP region with six frozen or low-intensity conflicts (Transnistria in Moldova, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, Nagorno Karabakh in Azerbaijan, and since 2014 Crimea and the secessionist-held territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in Ukraine). In the area of International Security Cooperation as a whole, Georgia and Ukraine headed the Index 2017 scores, followed by Armenia and Moldova, but in terms of cooperation with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), Ukraine was the clear leader, followed by Georgia and Moldova. Ukraine led on alignment with the EU’s CFSP statements, expressing support for 89% of the statements where it was invited to do so. On the other hand, when it came to participation in CSDP missions, Georgia participated in EU training missions in Mali and the Central African Republic. Moldova participated in one CSDP mission, while the remaining four EaP countries participated in none. Moreover, Georgia was the only EaP country to hold consultations with both the EU Military Committee (EUMC) and the EU Political and Security Committee (PSC) in Ukraine and Moldova held consultations with the EUMC, while Armenia and Azerbaijan both met with the PSC. Belarus had consultations with neither. In the previous period, Ukraine had been the only EaP member to hold consultations with both EU committees. In 2017 Ukraine continued to be the only EaP country with an Administrative Agreement with the European Defence Agency. Since 2014, Ukraine has been a host country to a CSDP mission, the EU Advisory Mission (EUAM) Ukraine, established after the onset of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine with the objective of strengthening Ukraine’s civilian security sector.

16. Zooming into Linkage Citizens in Europe Contributing indicators:
Cultural Exchange and Co-operation
Affinity with the European Union
Co-operation in Science and Education
Mobility, including Academic and Student Mobility
Digital and Information Society

17. Citizens in Europe

18. Citizens in Europe

19. Citizens in Europe

20. Citizens in Europe

21. EaP Index

22. Zooming into Approximation
EU Integration and Convergence
Contributing indicators:
Market Economy and DCFTA Alignment
Freedom, Security and Justice
Energy: Legislation Convergence and Energy Policy
Environment and Climate Policy
Transport: Regulatory Policy

23. Zooming into Approximation
Sustainable Development
Contributing indicators:
Sustainable Development Policy
Sustainable Development Goals
Education and Culture Policy

24. Armenia

25. Zooming into Linkage Sectoral Co-operation and Trade Flows
Contributing indicators:
Trade with the EU: Commodities
Investment and Loans from the EU
Trade with the EU: Services
Trade Defence Instruments
Energy Interdependence
Transport: Integration with Trans-European Networks
Environment Legislation and Co-operation

26. Zooming into Sectoral Co-operation and Trade Flows

27. Moldova

28. Georgia

29. Azerbaijan

30. Belarus

31. Media Independence Approximation Deep and Sustainable Democracy
Independent Media indicator

32. Public Administration
Approximation
Deep and Sustainable Democracy
Public Administration Indicator

33. Independent Judiciary
Approximation
Deep and Sustainable Democracy
Independent Judiciary Indicator

34. Thank you

35. Development Assistance from EU and EU Member States
Linkage
International security, political dialogue and cooperation
Development Assistance from EU and EU Member States indicator