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1. Implementing Deep Free Trade between EU and Ukraine – Time for a new approach

Author:
Julia Langbein
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
In December 2011, the European Union (EU) and Ukraine completed their negotiations on an Association Agreement (AA), including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA). The DCFTA does not only foresee the reduction of custom tariffs but seeks to foster regulatory convergence through which Ukraine is expected to unilaterally converge its national regulatory practices and government arrangements to the EU model in a number of areas such as technical standards, food safety, state aid, and company law. Up to now, the EU did not sign the AA as a reaction to the deteriorating political rights and the rule of law, exemplified by the increasing politicization of Ukraine's judiciary system during the trail against ex-Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko. It is in the hands of the Ukrainian government to change the domestic situation so that the AA and the DCFTA can be signed. However, once the DCFTA will be set in force, the EU is well advised not to leave Ukraine alone with the challenge to implement all its provisions. The EU needs to develop a new approach to ensure the successful implementation of the agreement and to maximize the effectiveness of the EU's impact on regulatory convergence in Ukraine. It is necessary for the EU to flank the incentive of market access with capacity-building measures that do not predominantly target state authorities but also increase regulatory capacities of private stakeholders such as firms and business associations.
Topic:
Security, Health, International Trade and Finance, Bilateral Relations, Food, and Law
Political Geography:
Ukraine

2. Organizing Regulatory Convergence Outside the EU Setting Policy-Specific Conditionality and Building Domestic Capacities.

Author:
Julia Langbein
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Kolleg-Forschergruppe (KFG)
Abstract:
Why is regulatory convergence towards EU rules more successful in some policy fields than in others within one EU neighboring country? By comparing Ukraine\'s convergence towards EU rules in the field of shareholders\' rights and technical standards, I challenge prominent explanations for policy change outside the EU that empha¬size misfit and adaptational costs, the institutionalization of EU rules or policy-specific conditionality. In order to deal with the shortcomings of these explanations, it is necessary to disaggregate incentives and capacities of various domestic actors within the particular policy fields. I argue that regulatory convergence in EU neighboring countries is more likely if external actors combine the application of policy-specific conditionality, such as access to the European market, with multiplex capacity-building measures that diversify demand among domestic state regulators and firms and empower them to make their claims.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe and Ukraine