Association Commitments: What Progress in Reforms in Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine

This conference, convened by the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (patronage of the Bureau of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly) in cooperation with the Open Society European Policy Institute, will address the progress made by Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine in the implementation of political reform commitments under their EU Association Agreements. EU officials, members of the European Parliament and of the relevant national parliaments, and experts from the three countries will assess reform progress and reflect on the way forward. Presentations will be followed by Q&A.

The conference will draw on the latest research and findings gathered by Open Society foundations in Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine in partnership with local think tanks and NGOs into the state of democratic reforms and the implementation of association commitments. Discussions at the conference will focus on three critical reform priorities—justice, the fight against corruption, and anti-discrimination and equal treatment—and provide policy recommendations to the EU and national governments.

Speakers

• Heidi Hautala and Victor Dolidze are co-presidents of the Euronest PA.
• Elmar Brok is chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
• Helga Schmid is deputy secretary-general and political director of the EEAS.
• Vĕra Jourová is the European commissioner for justice, consumers, and gender equality.
• Oleksandr Sushko is co-chairman of the EU–Ukraine Civil Society Platform under the Association Agreement.
• Sajjad Karim is chair of the delegation to the EU–Armenia and EU–Azerbaijan Parliamentary Cooperation Committees and the EU–Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee.
• Oleksandr Banchuk is criminal justice coordinator at the Centre for Political and Legal Reforms, Ukraine.
• Vladislav Gribincea is executive director of Legal Resource Center, Moldova.
• Ana Natsvlishvili is chairwoman of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Georgia.
• Tamar Dekanosidze is a strategic litigation lawyer at the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, representing the civil society Equality Coalition, Georgia.
• Nadejda Hriptievschi is programs director at the Legal Resource Center, Moldova.
• Olena Shevchenko is head of the NGO Insight, Ukraine.
• Andrej Plenkovic is co-chair of the EU–Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee.
• Giovanni Kessler is director-general of the European Anti-Fraud Office OLAF.
• Igor Botan is executive director of the Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT, Moldova.
• Eka Gigauri is executive director of Transparency International, Georgia.
• Andriy Kukharuk is an anticorruption expert in Ukraine.