Program Goal is to promote Ukraine’s European integration by providing financial and expert support to relevant civil society initiatives.

Strategic program activities for 2010:

• Enhancing the civil society’s contribution to shaping EU-Ukraine relationship
• Integrating Ukraine’s civil society to that of the EU
• Removing barriers for human contacts between the EU and Ukraine
• Increasing popular demand for Ukraine’s Europeanization
• Development of European studies at Ukrainian universities

Program's target audience

• NGOs whose activities are related to European integration
• Think tanks
• Institutions of higher and intermediate education
• Media
• Oblast libraries

Program implementation principles

• Assessment of needs, announcement of competitions, and supporting competition projects;
• Implementation of the so-called operational projects, performed directly by IRF;
• Backing of major civil society initiatives beyond the frameworks of announced competition projects
• Expertise and methodological support of NGO projects implementation;
• Expert involvement in the development of state policy in the sphere of European integration;
• Dissemination of information on projects and initiatives of civil society organisations and public institutions and on relevant international experience.

Decisions on Program’s strategy and support of specific projects are made by the Board of the European Programme consisting of leading Ukrainian experts in the field.

NOTEWORTHY INITIATIVES SUPPORTED:

• The Civil Society Expert Council with the Ukrainian side of the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Committee (a bilateral EU-Ukraine body within the framework of the EU-Ukraine Partnership and Co-operation Agreement) was established and includes 31 independent civil society experts. The establishment of this Council is an important step in terms of   institutionalizing government – civil society cooperation in the field of European integration and consolidating civil society initiatives in the field of European integration. The program provided organizational and expert support for the establishment of the Council and organizational and financial support for the work of its secretariat. The Council’s statute reflects the views of civil society representatives, in particular the section on the Committee’s responsibilities to the Council (the Committee has to inform the Council whether the proposals of the latter were or were not incorporated into Committee decisions, Committee representatives have to attend meetings of the Council, and  the Committee has to provide organizational support for the Council’s meetings). For more information about the Council and its activities, visit: http://www.eu.prostir.ua/themes/rada.html.

• A number of measures were taken aimed at increasing the transparency of negotiation processes between Ukraine and the EU on the Association Agreement. At an international conference in Kyiv, the Ukrainian public learned about the most successful practices of involving the civil society and stakeholders in countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkan in the negotiation processes with the EU. A roundtable was also held on the issue of intellectual property rights as a component of the Association Agreement. With the Program’s support and participation of experts from the Civil Society Expert Council, a study was conducted and analytical report published on the role of civil society in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. (http://www.eu.prostir.ua ). The experts’ recommendations were incorporated into draft articles of the Association Agreement. The European Space portal also now includes a separate page dedicated to the negotiations between Ukraine and the EU on the Association Agreement (http://www.eu.prostir.ua/themes/ua-eu.html ).

• The results of the civil society monitoring of the implementation of the Ukraine-EU Action Plan were presented (a Razumkov Centre project, in collaboration with other Ukrainian think tanks). The results of this monitoring – an alternative to the Ukrainian government and European Commission’s assessments – were taken into consideration in the EU-Ukraine bilateral report on the implementation of the Ukraine-EU Action Plan (March 2008) and the European Commission’s report on the European Neighborhood Policy in 2007 (April 2008). Following the recognition of the authority of the independent civil society monitoring, both the Ukrainian government and the European Commission consulted with civil society experts during the development of the New Practical Instrument between the EU and Ukraine to be launchedin 2009.

• The results of civil society monitoring of the implementation of the agreement on the facilitation of issuance of visas between Ukraine and the EU (signed on June 18, 2007 and went into force on January 1, 2008) were presented. The situation was monitored in two stages by a consortium of seven NGOs (six of which were regional NGOs) under the leadership of the Centre for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of Ukraine. Representative sample surveys were conducted of people leaving consulates or visa centers who had used the services of 21 consulates of 11 EU member states. According to the survey results, despite definite improvement in the situation with the issuing of visas to Ukrainians by "old" Schengen countries, the agreement has yet to become an effective mechanism capable of compensating for the negative effect that expansion of the Schengen area has had on most Ukrainians wanting to travel to the EU (http://eu.prostir.ua/news/24965.html ).

• The Cabinet of Ministers approved a much improved new State Program of Raising Public Awareness on Ukraine’s European Integration for the years 2008-2011 (CMU Resolution No. 594 from July 2, 2008), which was developed using proposals from the Razumkov Centre, International Renaissance Foundation, Internews, and other NGOs based on results of the civil society monitoring of the previous State Programs for 2004-2007 (Razumkov Centre project) and best domestic and international practices. A coordinating council comprised of NGO representatives was established to implement the program and a procedure was approved for competitively selecting NGO projects and programs that will raise awareness of the public about European integration (CMU Resolution No. 956 from October 30, 2008). This sets a precedent for financing NGO projects from state and local budgets in the form of grants, and was the result of efforts by experts from the Foundation for Regional Initiatives, European Law Advancement Network, Razumkov Centre and IRF (http://www.rada.gov.ua , www.kmu.gov.ua ).

• The network of regional European Information Centers (EIC) grew in 2008 by 4 to a total of 24 such centers at oblast libraries in Ukraine that were opened with support from the Program. (contacts for all the EICs can be found here: http://eu.prostir.ua/in/39896.html ). In July 2008, the EIC Network Forum was held during which an initiative coordinating group for the network was set up. According to the State Program of Raising Public Awareness on Ukraine’s European Integration for the years 2008-2011, starting in 2009, the EICs at oblast and raion libraries should be financed from local budgets.

• The First European Integration School was held (a project of the Ukrainian European Studies Association). The goal of the annual School is to increase civil society’s capacity to influence Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes by deepening theoretical knowledge and developing practical skills. The first pilot European Integration School trained 40 NGO leaders from various regions of Ukraine on how to effectively carry out informational and educational activities in the field of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. (http://eu.prostir.ua/news/9786.html)

• In autumn 2008, the Network of Pro-European Organizations of Ukraine conducted the first nationwide awareness raising campaign in the field of European integration, dedicated to popularizing tolerance as a fundamental European value. Detailed information about the campaign is available online: http://www.tolerant.org.ua.

With Program support, well-made and unique media products for Ukraine aimed at stimulating open debates on NATO were produced and distributed. The television series "NATO: Friend or Foe?" was produced (excerpts can be viewed and downloaded at http://eu.prostir.ua/archive/2.html and used as a handy visual device for public discussion on the pluses and minuses, risks and advantages of  Euro-Atlantic integration) along with a Russian language version (suitable for predominantly Russian-speaking regions). The series was aired twice on UT-1 and a number of regional television channels, and was shown by numerous NGOs as part of their informational events. A project is also underway to produce a series of 5 analytical-educational television films "NATO: Myths and Realities" to be aired on regional television in Ukraine. 

Information on all projects supported in 2008 is available at http://www.irf.kiev.ua/en/projects/sp2008/. Please subscribe to the European Program’s e-mailing list to obtain more information about the Program, its projects and European integration processes in Ukraine – for that you need to send an e-mail to Ця електронна адреса захищена від спам-ботів, Вам потрібно включити JavaScript для перегляду with "Subscribe to E-mailing list" in the topic.