Europe Programme - [12/21/2007]

"What you don't do, nobody else will”

Miquel Roca: “What you don't do, nobody else will”. The lawyer and ex-member of Convergència i Unió called for responsibility from Ukrainian politicians and social actors in the democratic stabilisation of their country, at a seminar held at the CIDOB Foundation in which participants analysed the possible routes for bilateral cooperation between Spain and the Ukraine.

In addition to Miquel Roca, Josep Piqué, ex-President of the Partido Popular of Catalonia and Narcís Serra, President of the CIDOB Foundation, brought to the seminar their experience in the process of Spain’s transition and integration into Europe, and particularly in the managing of the major agreements that helped to bring about the consolidation of democracy in Spain.

Roca, Piqué and Serra were taking part in Spain and the Ukraine: prospects for cooperation, a seminar that featured the participation of 45 figures from the worlds of academia, politics and business. Some of the leading figures included Javier Gil Catalina, Spanish ambassador to the Ukraine; Anatoly Scherba, Ukrainian ambassador to Spain; Oleksandr Sushko, Deputy Director of the CPCFPU (Centre for Peace, Conversion and Foreign Policy of the Ukraine); Anna Derevyanko, Executive Director of the European Business Association (EBA) in Kiev and Valentin Yakushik, Lecturer in Political Science at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

The seminar also represented an opportunity to explore possible paths for bilateral cooperation between Spain and the Ukraine, and not only on an official level, but also bearing in mind the potential for cooperation between civil societies, between city and city, region and region and different administrative organisations, etc. During the discussion, the speakers drew several parallels between Spain and the Ukraine ─ they are both in the southern periphery of Europe, they have similar-sized populations (45 and 48 million, respectively), they have a similar surface area and they share an experience of considerable regional and linguistic diversity.

The CIDOB Foundation, the International Centre for Policy Studies of Kiev and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Madrid organised a meeting that was held in 2007, after 15 years of diplomatic relations between the Ukraine and Spain, during which time bilateral relations of an official nature have been particularly positive. The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister led the first official visit at this level since 1994, and his Spanish counterpart has made two visits to Kiev. Furthermore, a Bilateral Memorandum for Rapprochement between the Ukraine and the European Union has been signed; its first work program is to commence in 2008.

During a seminar, five major subjects for bilateral cooperation were identified, around which proposals will be made for a bilateral work agenda between Spain and the Ukraine. For example:

·The Constitution and major State debates, including a subject for debate that was just as crucial for Spain as it is now for Ukraine: regionalisation.

·The reform of public administration, in both specific legislative aspects and, particularly, in the improvement of management, not only in the central levels but also in the different regions and local areas.

·The relationship between business and politics, both from the point of view of creating a favourable business environment and from that of preventing confusion between private and public interests.

·Spain and the Ukraine in Europe, in search of a shared vision of the future of Europe, debating bilaterally on key issues such as energy, and comparing Spain's experiences in the Mediterranean with those of the Ukraine in the Black Sea.

·Bilateral relations, commencing with remedying the problem of the absence of Spaniards in large debating forums in the Ukraine and in international discussions on the Ukraine. Several cooperation issues exist that are important for both states, such as those concerning migration.

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