On 21 November 2025, an educational webinar titled “EU External Relations and Enlargement: Implications for Ukraine” was held, organised by the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in cooperation with the INTER PARES Programme.

The event was opened by Vadym Halaichuk, Member of Parliament of Ukraine and First Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ukraine’s Integration into the European Union, and Ingrid Walker, Programme Manager at INTER PARES. In their welcoming remarks, they underscored the strategic importance of the EU’s external relations for Ukraine, the key role of interparliamentary cooperation in the context of future membership, and the need for a deep institutional understanding of the European Union’s approaches to shaping and implementing external policy.

The keynote speakers were Martin Kuta, Head of the General Analysis Department of the Parliamentary Institute of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, and Jean-Luc Blouet, Senior Adviser at the European Affairs Committee of the Senate of the French Republic.

During the presentation part of the webinar, the following topics were discussed:

·      the fundamentals of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy from a parliamentary perspective, including key approaches and decision-making mechanisms;

·     the European Union’s neighbourhood and enlargement policies, presented through the experience and practices of the French Senate;

·       practical aspects of parliamentary influence on the shaping of national positions in the field of EU external policy, as well as the role of parliaments of EU Member States in overseeing the Union’s external decision-making.

In their concluding remarks, Ivan Myshchak, First Deputy Head of the Research Service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and Yuliya Tymoshyk, Senior Consultant at the INTER PARES Programme, highlighted the importance of such educational initiatives for strengthening parliamentary institutional capacity and fostering effective integration into the European legal framework.

Simultaneous interpretation was provided thanks to the INTER PARES Programme, ensuring broad accessibility for participants.