The EU single market is a platform for business development which demonstrates sustainability and provides consumers with stable access to goods and services. Ukraine has an ambitious goal to ensure full integration into the single market even before becoming an EU member. EU digital regulation, standardization policy, transition to green technologies and Ukraine’s role in the development of the single market – these and other issues were discussed at the Single Market Forum: 30th Anniversary, which took place in Sweden.

“One of the main tasks for Ukraine during the course of a full-scale war is to ensure the economic sustainability of the country, thus, the comprehensive support of the European Union is extremely important for us. Unfortunately, Ukraine has lost a third of its GDP due to the war, but the economy continues to function and one of the reasons for our success is the slow but steady integration into the EU single market, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary today. For decades, we have been using EU rules to build our internal market. And it is significant that Ukraine continues to follow EU standards and integrate into EU supply chains even during the war,” said Deputy Minister Taras Kachka. 

The Ukrainian Trade Representative noted that Ukraine was close to entering into the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA). For this purpose, the country has made great efforts to bring its certification system and technical regulation into line with EU rules. Ukraine is also close to joining the EU internal market in the field of roaming. All formal procedures are expected to be completed during a year.

“We are using all the opportunities of the Association Agreement with the EU to improve access to the EU internal market, including the ACAA agreement, roaming and other areas where Ukrainian businesses can integrate into the EU supply chain. We expect that our full integration into the EU internal market will help European businesses be more active in Ukraine during the country’s economic recovery,” added Taras Kachka.

According to the Deputy Minister, one of the real cases that Ukrainian business can share with the European one is energy saving. It is because Ukraine has come a long way and gained this knowledge through armed aggression, shelling and a difficult winter period. Despite all the challenges, businesses in Ukraine have the opportunity to increase production, develop and apply new technologies that can be used for industrial production, namely military tech, drones, surveillance systems, including in the agricultural sector and logistics. European businesses can take advantage of these and other opportunities in Ukraine and invest in the Ukrainian economy.