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2. Civil Society Voices: How the EU Should Engage Its Eastern Neighbours
- Author:
- Iskra Kirova and Sabine Freizer
- Publication Date:
- 05-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Open Society Foundations
- Abstract:
- The EU’s “eastern neighbourhood” is an increasingly complicated and contested space. The challenge of Russia’s resurgence and regional elites’ resistance to reform are forcing the EU to reevaluate its policies. With the launch of its Eastern Partnership six years ago, the EU was ready to offer its neighbors to the east—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine—integration into the EU market, mobility of people, and close political ties in exchange for rule of law and democratic and economic reforms. Today, it questions whether this policy has secured its strategic interests and political influence. The Eastern Partnership reinforced domestic constituencies for change in at least three partners—Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine—that in 2014 signed association agreements. It has not lost the potential to contribute to democratic processes and support reformers in the other three: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus. The Eastern Partnership remains the EU’s most effective foreign policy instrument to build accountable and stable institutions and states, and uphold the EU’s commitment to its neighbors’ sovereignty and right to make independent foreign policy choices. This policy paper—the result of extensive discussions with experts and civil society leaders—highlights local concerns and expectations about the EU’s role in the region and its support for stability and democracy. As the EU rethinks its policies in the area, this paper offers recommendations on how to make the Eastern Partnership more effective and relevant to people, societies, and government, and to secure the EU’s interests in an increasingly polarized and unstable region.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Nationalism, Regional Cooperation, European Union, Democracy, Economic Policy, Elites, and Economic Integration
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Belarus
3. EU-Ukraine DCFTA: the Model for Eastern Partnership Regional Trade Cooperation
- Author:
- Veronika Movchan and Volodymyr Shportyuk
- Publication Date:
- 10-2012
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
- Abstract:
- The EU has been one of the largest trade partners for so called Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Commodity turnover of these countries with the EU vary between 30% and 50% of total, but their access to the EU market is less preferential than for many other neighboring countries. They trade with the EU on the basis of MFN regime, and five EaP countries, with exemption of Belarus, use privileges provided by Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) or the GSP+ or autonomous trade preferences (Moldova). With the launch of EaP initiative in 2009, relations between the EU and the Eastern European countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) have received new impetus for development. The EaP offers upgrade of relations within three major dimensions, namely (a) the Association Agreement (AA), (b) Agreement on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), and (c) Visa Facilitation and Readmission agreements. The AA talks have been launched with all EaP countries expect for Belarus, and four of them have been involved in the DCFTA talks. Ukraine has progressed the most, as after five years of negotiations the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement with embedded DCFTA has been initialed in 2012.The aim of this study is to assess gains and losses that could arise from the DCFTA with the EU for the EaP countries, using information about EU-Ukraine DCFTA as model case for EaP regional trade cooperation.The focus of the paper is on non-tariff (regulatory) component of the EU DCFTA and potential implications of regulatory approximation. Also, current level of harmonization of EaP countries’regulatory framework with the EU acquis in the areas related to the DCFTA is analyzed.
- Topic:
- Globalization, European Union, Regional Integration, Trade, and Economic Integration
- Political Geography:
- Ukraine and Eastern Europe
4. Is Free Trade with the EU Good for Ukraine?
- Author:
- Marek Dabrowski and Svitlana Taran
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
- Abstract:
- The negotiations on the Association Agreement (AA) between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine, including its trade component, i.e., the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA), were completed in December 2011. The agreement is practically ready to be signed, if the EU’s concerns related to the deteriorating political freedoms in Ukraine are addressed. The ball is now in Ukraine’s court and the correct and rapid response is crucial for the country’s future. Both the AA and the DCFTA offer Ukraine an opportunity to deepen its political and economic relations with the EU and modernize its own economy and state institutions. However, if fundamental economic, political, and institutional reforms are not accelerated and conducted in a more comprehensive and consistent way, the prospect of implementing the DCFTA (and its potential benefits) will come under question.
- Topic:
- Globalization, European Union, Free Trade, Trade, and Economic Integration
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe