Back in December 2014, upon the initiative of MEP from Lithuania Petras Auštrevičius an informal group "Friends of European Ukraine " was created in the European Parliament. At its very first session the group already included 50 members from 18 EU member states, representing different political groups, including the socialists, liberals and conservatives.

The EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee (PCA) is a forum for Members of Ukrainian Parliament and the European Parliament to meet and exchange views. According to the provisions of the Association Agreement, the Committee may request relevant information regarding the implementation of the AA from the Association Council, which shall also inform the Committee about its decisions and recommendations. The PAC may also make recommendations to the Association Council.

1. Entrepreneurship

The Small Business Act (SBA) for Europe adopted in 2008 and updated in 2011 reflects the Commission's political will to recognize the central role of SMEs in the EU economy. The 21 million SMEs create 58% of the value-added, employ 87 million people and account for 85% of the net job creation. SMEs also have a central role in the Commission's overall reform strategy, Europe 2020 and its flagship initiatives, in particular on Industrial policy.

Source: FDI Markets

Key Trends in 2014

Edited article ‘ Corrupting Civil Society in Post-Maidan Ukraine’ by Mikhail Minakov , Associate Professor/Docent in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and president of the Foundation for Good Politics.

Major Ukrainian political institutions have undergone quite a considerable evolution:

President: The post of President remains the most influential post in Ukrainian politics. The President now controls:

1. Define the Issue. People may not need to know your long-term goals. Get right to the point about what you need and why it is good public policy that the person would want to support.
2. Know the players. Which arguments will work with which people.
3. Know the committees. Note whether they have clear or shared jurisdictions and what their different prejudices or constituencies are. Note that the arguments that work in the first committee may not be very powerful in the second.
4. Know the public policy rationale behind current policy.

Professional Public Policy Advocates

Our profession is characterized by a lack of standards for training and practice, disorganisation and disunity among practitioners,a lack of recognition of the profession among clients and the public. These circumstances will only improve if practitioners unite and form professional associations to impose discipline and standardization and to achieve recognition through education, legislation and public relations.