Victor BUDKIN, Doctor of Economy, Prof., Honored Worker of Science and Engineering of Ukraine, Chief Research Fellow of the Institute of the global economy and international relations of the NAS of Ukraine * * * 2003 will go down into history of cooperation of the European Union and Ukraine as a final year of the previous and beginning of the next stage of their relations. The Agreement about partnership and cooperation (APC), which had been concluded on June, 16, 1994 determined up to now the basis of the development of these relations. Nine parts of APC included 10 sections and 109 articles determining the tenets of cooperation in practically all spheres of mutual contacts concerning the political dialog, trade, entrepreneurial activity, investments, industry, agriculture and other major branches of economy, regional development, taxation, education, etc. At the moment the most-favored-nation treatment was adopted; on the basis of the APC Ukraine was covered by the EU system of general preferences and technical aid. Thus, before the APC came into force (on March, 1, 1998 after it had been ratified by the Verkhovna Rada and all 15 EU members) its main provisions were applied in accordance with the Temporal agreement about trade and related questions, which took effect on Dec., 4, 1995. It is noteworthy, that Ukraine was the first CIS country to conclude such agreement with the European Union; this fact was specially stressed in the Common Strategy of the European Union in стр. 11 relation to Ukraine during the Helsinki Summit of European Council on December, 10-11, 1999. Russia followed four days later on June 20, 1994, whereupon other CIS participants joined the agreement. The agreement about partnership and cooperation laid the basis for the legal and economic principles of relations between the EU and Ukraine. This ensured that our regular relations with the developed European economies expanded. So in 1995-2002 the trade turnover between Ukraine and th ... Читать далее