Mr. Eduard Stavytskyi, Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, paid his first visit to the European institutions in Brussels on 19 July  2012. Mr. Vladyslav Iakubowskyi, Head of the State Environmental Investment Agency of Ukraine, joined the Minister on the visit. During the visit the Ukrainian delegation held three very important meetings: with Mr. Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment,  Ms. Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, and Mr. Melchior Wathelet, Secretary of State for Environment, Energy, Mobility and Institutional Reform of the Kingdom of Belgium.

At the meeting with EU Commissioner for Environment J. Potočnik the parties launched a high level Ukraine-EU dialogue on environment.

Prospects of further deepening and intensification of cooperation between Ukraine and the EU in the sphere of ecology and the environment Protection, to be opened with conclusion of the Association agremeent, were also discussed.

Eduard Stavytskyi briefed J.Potocnik on progress in the implementation of the National Strategy of Ukraine and National Action Plan on Environmental Protection for 2011-2015 and thanked the EU side for the respective budget support.

Prospects for the establishment of a non-governmental Regional Environmental Centre of Ukraine in order to promote public awareness about the environment and enhance the role of the civil society in this matter were also discussed.

The parties touched upon fulfillment by Ukraine of its commitments within multilateral agreements, namely ESPOO and Aarhus Conventions, and had an exchange of views on the outcome of recent UN “Rio+20”  Conference.

Eduard Stavytskyi extended an invitation to Janez Potočnik to visit Ukraine at his convenience.

During the meeting with the EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard, parties had a constructive dialogue regarding the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol.

The Ukrainian delegation reaffirmed Ukraine's realistic position and reported Ukraine's readiness to assume a long-term commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050 compared to 1990 baseline.

On the occasion, the Minister of Ecology extended an invitation to the EU Commissioner for Climate Action to visit Ukraine at her convenience.

Prospects of future cooperation in the sphere of environment and implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol were discussed during the meeting with the Secretary of State for Environment, Energy, Mobility and Institutional Reform of the Kingdom of Belgium Melchior Wathelet.

It should be noted that these were the first meetings of sectoral High Officials in the history of relationship between the EU and Ukraine, providing the basis for the development of future bilateral relations in the context of European integration processes.