On October 03, 2017 Annual Conference of the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum was held. The event was organized with the support of the Civic Synergy Project funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Renaissance Foundation.

Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE in her opening speech noted that Eastern Partnership countries have to get ready of the EU to "keep the door open".

Eastern Partnership countries need a differentiated approach and possibly the launch of an additional interaction format “EU + 3” (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia) in order to focus on specific things. This refers to our cooperation in infrastructure projects, lowering roaming tariffs, increasing quotas for studying in European higher education institutions, training of civil servants in the EU member states institutions, creating a Common Aviation Area, unification of Postal Services and gradual integration into the EU energy market. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia also need more effective cooperation with the EU in the security and defense sector.

Therefore, it is necessary to develop a more adapted policy to the needs of the three countries. At the same time, she stressed that “EU + 3” cooperation model should be open for other Eastern Partnership countries in case they are ready to enhance engagement with the EU. As it was underlined by Ivanna KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE, the current realities require flexibility of the EU instruments within the framework of the Eastern Partnership: “The instruments that had candidate countries could be adapted to the Eastern Partnership but obviously, it's too early to talk about such a decision during the November Summit”.

At the same time, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Estonia to Ukraine Gert ANTSU informed that his country during the current presidency in the EU strives to promote the idea of the Eastern Partnership as widely as possible. He agreed with the idea of Ivanna KLYMPUSH-TSINTSADZE that we should think about the future in light of the great ambitions of cooperation with the European Union. The Ambassador also emphasized the importance of cooperation in the field of security and defense outlining the role of strategic communications in this context. Gert ANTSU said that he was interested in the activity of civil society in Ukraine during the discussion of important initiatives of Ukraine-EU cooperation noting that Estonia did not have such an advantage 20 years ago.

At the same time, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden to Ukraine Martin HAGSTRÖM called for further expansion of national debates on European integration issues. The Eastern Partnership is a great opportunity to propose a positive agenda, not just focus on crisis management.

First Secretary of Political Department of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Evelina SCHULZ in her speech positively evaluated the cooperation within the framework of the Eastern Partnership and the first results of the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreements in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Evelina Schulz noted that the benefits of the current cooperation will become evident over time, so now it's important to communicate the ongoing processes. Speaking about the European aspirations of the Eastern Partnership countries, Evelina Schulz mentioned the words of the former Polish Foreign Minister, who together with Sweden, initiated the Eastern Partnership, that the European Union's neighbors in the South and in the East are European partners.

Director of the European Program Initiative of the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF), Project Leader of  "Public Synergy”, Dmytro SHULGA invited the countries that signed the Association Agreement with the EU to address Brussels with a request for a clearer definition of the concept of "political association", as well as clarifying what is in mind when it comes to the fact that countries share the common values. Concrete definition of the criteria of freedom, democracy, rule of law and human rights, Dmyto SHULGA convinced, will facilitate acceleration of European integration processes.

During the first day of the conference, the Joint Working Document "Eastern Partnership - 20 expected achievements by 2020: focusing on key priorities and real results" was presented, which is  the result of an assessment by experts from the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum.

In addition, within the framework of the 4 panel discussions, the priorities identified in the above-mentioned Joint Working Document and the proposals to the document were discussed.

In particular, within the panel discussion II on the priority "Strengthening Institutions and Good Governance" Volodymyr KUPRII, Executive Director of the Charitable Foundation "Creative Center CCC", Serhii SAIENKO, Deputy Director of the EU and NATO Department of the MFA of Ukraine and Roman KUIBIDA, Deputy Chairman of the Center for Politico-legal reforms, presented and discussed with the participants of the event the main achievements, priorities and proposals for the implementation of reforms in such areas:

• rule of law and;
• justice;
• public administration and civil service;
• security.

On behalf of Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union the event was attended by Angela KUKULIA, Head of HR development Department, who presented the main results of cooperation of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service within the framework of the EU Eastern Partnership Initiative in 2016-2017 years in the context of public administration and civil service reform.

Representatives of the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and non-governmental organization, representatives of ministries, other government authorities, international projects and organizations, European and national experts took part in the event.