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(27) It is in the common interests of the Union and Ukraine to advance the efforts of Ukraine to reform its political, legal and economic systems with a view to Union membership. Granting the status of candidate country to Ukraine is a geostrategic investment of the Union in peace, security, stability and prosperity in Europe and allows the Union to be better positioned to address global challenges. It also provides increased economic and trade opportunities for the mutual benefit of the Union and Ukraine, while supporting a gradual transformation of the country. The prospect of Union membership has a powerful transformative effect, embedding positive democratic, political, economic and societal change.

(28) Embracing and committing to core Union values is a choice and is essential for Ukraine’s aspiration to Union membership. In line with this, it is important that Ukraine takes ownership and fully commits to Union values as well as to upholding a global order based on rules and values and vigorously pursues the necessary reforms in the interests of its people.

(29) Reconstruction from the damage caused by Russia’s war of aggression cannot be limited to restoring what was destroyed as it was before the war. Reconstruction offers an opportunity to support Ukraine in its process of integration into the internal market and in accelerating its sustainable green and digital transitions, in line with Union policies while fostering economic integration with the Union and promoting socio-economic development and cross-border cooperation. The Facility should therefore promote reconstruction in a way that modernises and improves Ukraine’s economy, building on Union rules and standards, investing in the transition of Ukraine towards a sustainable green, digital and inclusive economy, thereby benefitting society as a whole, with particular attention to the needs of vulnerable groups. Reconstruction of cultural heritage should be based on national, international and European practices, on standard-setting texts, principles, such as New European Bauhaus, and lessons learned, and be consistent with the European quality principles for Union-funded interventions which have a potential impact on cultural heritage. Particular attention should be paid to ensuring the sustainability of and adequate protection for activities financed under the Facility in light of cybersecurity risks and the overall threat landscape.

(30) In line with the need to support the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine in a sustainable and future-proof way, the Facility should not support activities or measures which promote investments in fossil fuels, or that do not respect the principle of ‘do no significant harm’, including to biodiversity or the climate, unless such activities or measures are strictly necessary to achieve the objectives of the Facility to the extent possible in a war-torn country. Such activities or measures would concern for example the continuation of economic activities or addressing urgent recovery and reconstruction needs. They should take into account the need to rebuild and modernise infrastructure and rehabilitate natural environment damaged by the war in a resilient way. They should be accompanied, where relevant, by appropriate measures to avoid, prevent or reduce and, if possible, offset any harmful effects.

(32) The Facility should strive to improve the awareness of and fight against environmental crime in Ukraine, supporting the implementation of the Kyiv Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers and ensuring compliance with environmental protection laws.

(33) Measures funded under the Facility should be consistent, to the extent possible in a war-torn country, with the climate and environmental standards of the Union. Those measures should also mainstream climate change, environmental protection, human rights, peace, democracy, gender equality and non-discrimination, and where relevant, disaster risk reduction, as well as progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Support under the Facility should also be guided by the ‘leaving no one behind’ principle, and strive to ensure a balanced and needs-based allocation and use of resources.

(35) Strengthening the rule of law, including the independence of the judiciary, supporting deoligarchisation efforts and the fight against corruption and in particular high-level corruption, money laundering, tax avoidance, tax evasion, tax fraud and organised crime, strengthening transparency, including public access to information, good governance at all levels, and the participation of civil society organisations, including human rights organisations, safeguarding a free and pluralistic media, and strengthening public administration reform, including in the fields of public procurement, competition and state aid, remain key challenges and are essential for Ukraine to come closer to the Union and to prepare to fully assume the obligations of Union membership. In view of the longer-term nature of the reforms pursued in those areas and the need to build up track records, support under the Facility should address those issues as early as possible.

(36) In accordance with the principle of participatory democracy and for the purpose of strengthening checks and balances, the Union should encourage the strengthening of parliamentary capacities, parliamentary oversight, democratic procedures and fair representation in Ukraine as well as meaningful participation by regions and municipalities and civil society at all stages of the democratic process, thereby allowing for enhanced democratic scrutiny. The Ukraine Plan should demonstrate how meaningful participation of stakeholders was planned and conducted via consultations, allowing for sufficient timeframes and transparency and clear follow-up procedures to address the input given. In accordance with Ukraine’s constitutional order, the Verkhovna Rada should be informed and consulted at all the stages of the Facility’s life cycle. The outcomes of any debates held concerning or opinions issued on the Ukraine Plan by the Verkhovna Rada should be taken into account.

(37) Enhanced strategic and operational cooperation between the Union and Ukraine on security is pivotal to addressing effectively and efficiently threats to security, including hybrid threats such as cyber threats, as well as to resilience against disinformation, foreign information manipulation and interference, organised crime and terrorism.

(38) Activities under the Facility should also, in line with Article 21(2), point (c), TEU and in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, support, where appropriate, confidence-building measures and processes that promote justice, truth-seeking, comprehensive post-conflict rehabilitation for an inclusive, peaceful society and reparations and guarantees of non-recurrence as well as the collection of evidence of crimes committed during the war and making available the relevant findings, as appropriate. Particular attention should be given to supporting formal, informal and non-formal peace education.

(56) In order to ensure the efficient implementation of the Facility, Ukraine needs to provide public access to the information on funding opportunities under the Facility and ensure free and fair competition during tendering and grant allocation processes carried out under the Facility. The Facility should contribute to the facilitation of Ukraine’s integration into European value chains with the result that all supplies and materials financed and procured under the Facility should originate from Member States, Ukraine, Western Balkan partners, Georgia and Moldova, Contracting Parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and countries which provide a level of support to Ukraine comparable to that provided by the Union, taking into account the size of their economies, and for which reciprocal access to external assistance in Ukraine is established by the Commission, unless the supplies and materials cannot be sourced under reasonable conditions in any of those countries. In the latter case, the Commission should keep the Council informed thereof.

(57) The Union should seek the most efficient use of available resources in order to optimise the impact of its external action. That should be achieved through coherence, consistency and complementarity with the other Union external financing instruments, as well as through synergies with other Union policies and programmes. In order to maximise the impact of combined interventions to achieve a common objective, the Facility should be able to contribute to activities under other programmes without causing a duplication of support measures.

(58) The Union should promote a multilateral, rules-based and values-based approach to global goods and challenges and should cooperate with Member States, partner countries, international organisations and other donors in that respect.

(59) In view of the need to coordinate international support for the recovery, reconstruction and modernisation of Ukraine, it should be possible for Member States, third countries, international organisations, international financial institutions or other sources to contribute to the implementation of the Facility. Such contributions should be implemented in accordance with the same rules and conditions and should constitute external assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(2), points (a)(ii), (d) and (e), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046. Support under the Facility should, to the extent possible, be integrated into international efforts towards a financial architecture for the recovery of Ukraine and be coordinated with relevant donors and international financial institutions.