page_title: Ukraine–European Union relations
section_title: Euromaidan and ratification of the Association Agreement
hierarchical_section_title: Ukraine–European Union relations / History / Euromaidan and ratification of the Association Agreement
caption_attribution_description: English: Euromaidan in Kiev. Deutsch: Pro-EU-Demonstration in Kiew am Tag vor dem Beginn des dritten Gipfeltreffens der Östlichen Partnerschaft.
context_page_description: Relations between the European Union and Ukraine are shaped through the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. Ukraine is a priority partner within the Eastern Partnership and the European Neighbourhood Policy. The EU is seeking an increasingly close relationship with Ukraine, going beyond co-operation, to gradual economic integration and deepening of political co-operation.
  The association agreement was initiated in 2012, but the Ukrainian government suspended preparations for signing the association agreement on 21 November 2013, during the presidency of pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych, who attended the EU summit in Vilnius on 28–29 November 2013 where the association agreement was originally planned to be signed but it was not. The decision to put off signing the association agreement led to the pro-EU Euromaidan movement. These led to the removal of Yanukovych and his government by parliament after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution in February 2014.
context_section_description: Viktor Yanukovych and his government were removed from their post by parliament after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution in February 2014. The ouster of Yanukovych plunged Ukraine into the 2014 Crimean crisis and the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine. In March 2014 the EU condemned the Annexation of Crimea by Russia and Russia's "clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces". The EU also froze (and tried to recover) "misappropriated Ukrainian state funds" and froze assets and blocked entry into the EU of Russians and Ukrainians deemed responsible for the unrest in Ukraine. The political part of the Association Agreement was signed on 21 March 2014 by new Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, with the remaining parts of the agreement concerning free trade being deferred pending May elections. Customs duties for Ukrainian exports to the EU were temporarily removed in April 2014. Financial help was also promised to Ukraine. Ukraine was granted a macro-financial aid bilateral loan of one billion Euro in May 2014. Following the election, new President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the European Union signed the economic part of the Association Agreement on 27 June 2014. President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy described the signing as a "great day for Europe". Signatory (then new) President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko called it "Ukraine is underlining its sovereign choice in favour of membership of the EU", and also described it as Ukraine's "first but most decisive step" towards EU membership. Poroshenko also set 2020 as a target for an EU membership application. As the Voice of America reported on 27 June, "Terms of the EU agreements require Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine not enter into similar free trade agreements with the Kremlin."  On 16 September 2014 the Verkhovna Rada approved the draft law on ratification of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, which was signed the same day by President Petro Poroshenko.
  Same year, EU and Ukraine, upon Ukrainian Government's request, agreed to establish European Union Advisory Mission Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine), which is a civilian Common Security & Defence Policy mission of the EU for Ukraine's civilian security sector reform that formally began operating in Ukraine on 1 December 2014. EUAM Ukraine, employing over 300 personnel working in main headquarters in Kyiv, as well as in field offices in Lviv, Kharkiv and Odesa and a Mobile Unit today, provides strategic advice and practical support to Ukrainian counterparts. By working with a number of law-enforcement and rule of law agencies (Ministry of Internal Affairs, National Police, National Anti-Corruption Agency, State Border Guard Service, State Bureau of Investigations to name but a few), EUAM Ukraine aims to make civilian security sector more efficient, transparent and enjoying public trust.
  The 17th EU-Ukraine summit took place on 27 April 2015 in Kiev. During an Eastern Partnership summit in Riga in May 2015, EU agreed on a €1.8 bln loan to Ukraine. On 1 January 2016, the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU entered into force.  By April 2016, the Association Agreement had been ratified by Ukraine and all EU member states except the Netherlands, which held a referendum on approval of the treaty.  Following the rejection of the agreement in the referendum, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said that ratification would be put on hold during negotiations with the other parties to the treaty to find a compromise. In December 2016, a decision of the heads of state or government of the EU member states was approved which made legally binding interpretations of the agreement to address the concerns raised in the referendum. In particular, it stated that it did not commit the EU to grant Ukraine EU membership candidate status, provide security guarantees, military of financial aid, or free movement within the EU. The decision would enter into force if the Netherlands ratified the agreement, whic
caption: Pro-EU demonstration in Kiev, 27 November 2013
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