The 3rd Association Exchange Forum (2019)
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About the Forum
The 3rd Association Exchange Forum is an international gathering of practitioners and experts on Association Agreement (AA) implementation in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
The Forum takes place in the period of change, after the elections have reshaped political landscapes in Ukraine, Moldova and the European Union. It will allow to learn whether there will be further political leadership on all sides to advance implementation of the Association Agreements and deepen European integration of the three countries in the areas of their priority interests.
The Forum will also provide an opportunity to explore the potential of enhanced cooperation within the group of the associated countries around their EU integration goals, in particular, by discussing the specific common interests that Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine have in pushing together for deeper integration into European internal markets, as well as in building stronger ties between themselves. Participants will also explore the idea of a special track of relationship with the EU the three countries seek, and of the framework the EU can offer for the relationship of deeper integration without membership of the three countries.
Agenda of the Forum
Livestream
DAY 1. Opening of the Forum.
Welcome words:
- Dmytro KULEBA, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration
- Matti MAASIKAS, Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine
- LucDEVIGNE, Director for Russia, Eastern partnership, Central Asia and OSCE, Deputy Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia, European External Action Service
- Oleksandr SUSHKO, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation
Moderator:
- Dmytro SHULGA, Director, European Program, International Renaissance Foundation
Speakers:
- Vakhtang MAKHAROBLISHVILI, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
- Olena ZERKAL, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
- Vlad KULMINSKY, State Secretary, Ministryof Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova
- Matti MAASIKAS, Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine
Moderator:
- Oleksandr SUSHKO, Executive Director of the International Renaissance Foundation
Speakers:
- Kakha GOGOLASHVILI, Co-Chair of the EU-Georgia Civil Society Platform, Director of EU Studies Centre, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies
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Lasha TUGUSHI, Country Facilitator, Georgian National Platform, EaP Civil Society Forum, Chairman of the Liberal Academy-Tbilisi
- Yuri VDOVENKO, Country Facilitator, Ukrainian National Platform, EaP Civil Society Forum, Director of the Centre for Cross Border Cooperation
- Ion MANOLE, Country Facilitator,MoldovanNational Platform of the EaP Civil Society Forum
- Ivan KULCHYTSKYY, Ukrainian Side of the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform, President of NGO “Agency of European Innovations” (Ukraine)
Moderator:
- Zoriana MISHCHUK, Civic Synergy Project Team Leader
DAY 2
Session II : THE THREE ASSOCIATED COUNTRIES IN A WIDER EUROPE: A DE FACTO INTEGRATION PERSPECTIVE?
Speakers:
- Michael EMERSON, Associate Senior Research Fellow, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels
- Daniel SZELIGOWSKI, Head of the Eastern Europe Programme at the Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Taras KACHKA, Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine/Trade Representative of Ukraine
- Marius VAHL, Head of EEA Policy Coordination, European Free Trade Association Secretariat
- Luc DEVIGNE, Director for Russia, Eastern partnership, Central Asia and OSCE, Deputy Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia, European External Action Service
Moderator: Olga STEFANISHYNA, Independent Expert, Advisor to the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration
Session III: WHERE ARE WE NOW? THE ACTUAL PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTINGTHETHREE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENTS
Speakers:
- Yulia GARYACHA, Acting Director of the Government Office for Coordination of the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine
- David BUJIASHVILI, Head of the EU Assistance Coordination and Sectorial Integration Department, Directorate General for European Integration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Comments from civil society platforms representatives:
- Liuba AKULENKO, Executive Director, Ukrainian Centre of European Policy
- Iulian GROZA, Executive Director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms, Member of the EU-Moldova Civil Society Platform
- Kakha GOGOLASHVILI, Co-Chair of the EU-Georgia Civil Society Platform, Director of EU Studies Centre, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies
Moderator: Zoriana MISHCHUK, Civic Synergy Project Team Leader
Parallel Session IVa. DCFTAS IN ACTION: ECONOMIC EFFECTS AND FURTHER GOALS
Speakers:
- Jana HERCEG, Head of Trade Section, EU Delegation to Ukraine
- Veronika MOVCHAN, Academic Director,Institute for Economic Research and Political Consultations (Ukraine)
- Lali GOGOBER, Expert, Reformatics (Georgia)
- Denis CENUȘĂ, Associated Expert, Expert-Grup (Moldova)
- Alexandra POPA, Manager of Policy and Advocacy, European Business Association Moldova
Moderator: Anne BERCIO, Head of the ImpAcT Project (Implementation of DCFTA supporting activities in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia), GIZ
Parallel Session IVb: JUDICIAL REFORM IN FOCUS: COMPARING PROGRESS IN UKRAINE, GEORGIA AND MOLDOVA
Speakers:
- Mykhailo ZHERNAKOV, Chairman of the Board, DEJURE Foundation (Ukraine)• Arkadiy BUSHCHENKO, Judge of the Supreme Court (Ukraine)
- Ilie CHIRTOACA, Legal Officer, Legal Resources Centre (Moldova)
- Giorgi CHITIDZE, Manager, Human Rights Program, Open Society Georgia Founda-tion (Georgia)
Moderator: Nataliya PETROVA, Deputy Director, USAID Justice Sector reform, Program “New Justice” (Ukraine)
Parallel Session Va: DIGITAL MARKETS HARMONISATION: BILATERAL PRIORITIES AND COMMON GOALS
- Gulsanna MAMEDIEVA, Advisor to the Vice Minister for Digital Transformation of Ukraine
- Oleksander ZHYVOTOVSKYI, Chairman of the National Commission for the State Regulation of Communications and Informatization
- Ihor SAMOKHODSKYI, Head of the IT and Telecom Sector, BRDO (Ukraine)
- David TSISKARIDZE, Chairman of the International Business and Economic Development Center (Georgia)
Parallel Session Vb: ENERGY SECURITY AND INTEGRATION INTO EU ENERGY MARKETS
Speakers:
- Torsten WOELLERT, Team Leader Energy and Environment, Support Group for Ukraine
- Serhii MAKOHON, Director of Strategy and Business Development, ‘Ukrtransgaz’ and general manager at Gas TSO of Ukraine
- Denis CENUȘĂ, Associated Expert, Expert-Grup (Moldova)
- Murman MARGVELASHVILI, Founder and Board Member, “World Experience for Georgia” (Georgia)
- Julian RÖPCKE, Political Editor, Bild (Germany)
Moderator: Olena PAVLENKO, President, DIXI Group
Day 3.
Session VII: REGIONAL SECURITY AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES: A SPACE FOR TRILATERAL COOPERATION?
Speakers:
- Oleksandr LYTVYNENKO, Director of the National Institute of Strategic Studies, Ukraine
- Paata GAPRINDASHVILI, Director, Georgia’s Reform Association (GRASS)
- Victoria ROȘA, Defense and Security Advisor to Prime Minister of Moldova
Moderator: Vitalii Martyniuk, Acting Executive Director, Centre for Global Studies “Strat-egy XXI”, Ukraine
Session VI. EASTERN PARTNERSHIP BEYOND 2020: VIEWS FROM BERLIN
Speakers:
- Hans-Jürgen HEIMSOETH, Special Representative for Eastern Partnership, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany
- Cristina GHERASIMOV, Research Fellow, German Council on Foreign Relations
- Nikolaos GAVALAKIS, Director of the Regional Office „Dialogue Eastern Europe”, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
Moderator: Oleksandr HOLUBOV, Journalist, Deutsche Welle
Session VII: POLITICAL VISION: A NEW FORMAT FOR THE THREE + EU?
- Mihai POPȘOI, Deputy Speaker, Parliament of the Republic of Moldova
- Svitlana ZALISHCHUK, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ukraine (tbc)
- Andrius KUBILIUS, MEP, Euronest Co-Chair, former Prime Minister of Lithuania
Moderator: Kataryna WOLCZUK, Professor of East European Politics, Centre for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
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