Ukraine's accession to the EU: BES experts have developed 2 draft laws to combat fraud with EU funds

The Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine hosted a meeting with representatives of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

During the event, the participants discussed draft laws developed by the BES and considered further approximation of national legislation in the field of combating fraud with EU funds to the norms of the European Union.

The purpose of the meeting was to develop a unified position of Ukraine on the fulfillment of obligations under Annex 44 to the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

The participants discussed the implementation of the provisions of EU Directive 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 05 July 2017 on the fight against fraud against the financial interests of the Union by criminal law into national legislation.

"As part of the fulfillment of these obligations, the BES has already developed two draft laws "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine on Liability for Illegal Acts with Funds or Assets of the European Union Budgets" and "On Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on Liability for Illegal Acts with Funds or Assets of the European Union Budgets", said Andriy Pashchuk, Deputy Director of the BES.

According to him, their adoption will introduce an effective mechanism of criminal liability for illegal actions with EU funds provided by partners to support Ukraine.

In his turn, Director General of the Government Office for Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Oleksandr Ilkov emphasized his readiness to continue to cooperate with the BES experts to fulfill all relevant obligations under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and within the framework of the EU-Ukraine accession negotiations.