Conflicts to Watch in The New Millennium

Charter political declaration of principles for international energy including trade, transit
and investment. The ECT was signed in December 1994 and came into effect in April
1998. Ukraine and all EU member states are also signatories of the 1998 Trade
Amendment reflecting the change from the GATT to the WTO.
After its entry into force, Ukraine held an Observer status for the Treaty establishing
the Energy Community (also referred as European Energy Community), a community
established between the European Union (EU) and a number of third countries in order
to extend the EU internal energy market to South East Europe and beyond. The Treaty
establishing the Energy Community was signed in Athens, Greece, on 25 October 2005,
and entered into force on 1 July 2006. Ukraine soon expressed its interest in full
membership. Mandated by the Energy Community Ministerial Council, the European
Commission had the first round of formal negotiations with Ukraine in late 2008. After
three negotiation rounds, the technical negotiations with Ukraine were concluded in
2009. The Ministerial Council, however, made the membership conditional on legislative
amendments. In concrete, it requested Ukraine to revise its gas law so that it complies
with EU's Gas Directive 2003/55/EC. Following the amendment of the gas law in July
2010, Ukraine signed the Energy Community Accession Protocol on 24 September
2010, ratified the Treaty on 15 December 2010 and officially acceded the Energy
Community on 1 February 2011.
Economic Relations
Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement
During the 1990s, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy remained major trading partners
of Ukraine. According to Eurostat, between 2000 and 2007 EU trade in goods with
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