The European Union may recognise Ukraine as a country with a market economy sooner than the US, the European Commission’s representative in the country, Timo Hammaren, has said.  Such a move would pave the way to the country entering the WTO.

Speaking at a recent seminar on the prospects of the Ukraine entering the WTO, Hammaren said the EU and the US had different assessment criteria as to what constitutes a market economy, adding that he expected the EU to make “a positive statement” on the issue at the end of this month.  It is hoped Ukraine’s accession will follow the same path as Lithuania’s which saw the country gain US recognition as a free market economy after the EU did the same.

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