Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada elaborating European integration bills - Rada speaker

MOSCOW. Aug 25 (Interfax) - The Verkhovna Rada is actively working on its part of the European integration tasks so that negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union could begin before the end of the year, Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said.

"Creating of subcommittees in each committee of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada, which will deal exclusively with European integration, is at the final stage. The procedure for registering all European integration acts has been changed. Such documents contain a table of compliance with the EU directives. Members of the High Council of Justice have been appointed according to the quota of the parliament. This was one of the requirements," Stefanchuk said at a meeting with head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas on Thursday.

The Rada speaker also said that a bill to reform the Constitutional Court by introducing a competitive selection of judges of the Constitutional Court would be submitted to the parliament in the near future, the Ukrainian media reported, citing the website of the Verkhovna Rada.

In addition, Stefanchuk said that the Verkhovna Rada is expected to consider bills on the elaboration of financial measures to combat money laundering (FATF) and on the media in the near future. The bill on ethnic communities is being finalized, the parliament speaker said.