The European Union is set to lower its defences against imports from Ukraine in a sign that Brussels is finally providing concrete help for Kiev after the Orange Revolution.

The European Commission has decided that Ukraine deserves the title of "market economy status" - a move that reduces Brussels' scope to levy hefty anti-dumping duties on Ukrainian imports. Such a classification has been one of Kiev's main objectives this year. The EU is Ukraine's biggest trading partner; annual bilateral trade stands at $22bn (€18.6bn, £12.6bn), ahead of the $20bn trade between Ukraine and Russia.

"Ukraine now fulfils all the criteria to be granted market economy status," says an internal Commission paper seen by the Financial Times. "This means that Ukraine will be treated as a full-fledged market economy in all trade defence investigations," once the measure has come into force. The Commission expects the process will be completed by the end of this year or early next year.

Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's president, has sought greater help from the EU to consolidate the country's democratic swing, but Brussels has been dismayed by disarray within the Ukrainian administration and has been reluctant to encourage Ukrainian hopes for EU membership.

Now, however, the EU is finally progressing on two of Kiev's most important priorities ahead of an EU-Ukraine summit scheduled for December 1: anti-dumping duties and simpler visa rules.

The Ukrainian government hopes negotiations on simpler visas will be speedy, leading to an agreement relatively early next year. But the Commission warns that Kiev will have to make progress on a parallel agreement on readmitting illegal migrants who entered the EU via Ukraine.

On a related issue, Brussels also believes that Kiev will have to make considerably more progress in reducing tariffs if its membership application to the World Trade Organisation is to proceed.