Why the Ukraine should not be allowed to join the European Union in the Short Run

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. The Relations between the European Union and Ukraine from 1991 to 2004
1.1 Early Relations between the EU and Ukraine
1.2 The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and the Common Strategy on Ukraine
1.3 Ukraine as part of the New Neighbourhood Policy of the European Union
1.4 Conclusion on the Relations in the Past between the European Union and Ukraine

2. Recent Developments: Juschtschenko’s Wish to Join the European Union
2.1 New President, New Policy
2.2 A New Action Plan
2.3 Conclusion on Ukraine’s and the EU’s Policies

3. Discussion: Shall the Ukraine join the EU?

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

With the election of Viktor Juschtschenko as President of Ukraine in December 2004 a new issue has been opened in the integration process of the European Union: Shall the Ukraine become a member in the near future?

While Juschtschenko demands this since his inauguration in January 2005 the EU still reacts very reserved according to that issue. It did not make a final decision yet how to deal with Ukraine in the future.

This research paper is going to show why it is important to give Ukraine enough incentives to go on in renewing its economy and to establish a stable democracy in the former country of the Soviet Union, but why it is much too early to allow the Ukraine to join the EU in the short run (main thesis). It will analyze how the European Union dealt with Ukraine so far and give a recommendation how to go on in the future.

Therefore it is looking in the first chapter at the relations with Ukraine until Juschtschenko was elected as President – because this marks a turning point in Ukrainian politics towards the EU. The second chapter will concentrate on only the last four months and evaluate both the policy of Ukraine towards the EU and the policy of the EU according to the issue of a possible accession of Ukraine. The third and last chapter will start a discussion why or why not the EU should open accession negotiations with Ukraine. It is going to work out the main thesis presented above.

To reconstruct the policy and proof the different facts the author of the research paper used a lot of original documents of the EU as well as articles published in the media. Because this research paper examines a not very well researched topic in EU policies, only a few secondary sources were used.

1. The Relations between the European Union and Ukraine from 1991 to 2004

The first part of this research paper will look at the former relations between Ukraine and the European Union (EU) from the independence of Ukraine in 1991 to the end of the year 2004, when Viktor Juschtschenko and his Revolution in Orange won the presidency elections. First it will describe the early advances between the EU and Ukraine. Then it will examine the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) signed in 1998 between the EU-15 and Ukraine and the Common Strategy on Ukraine. And at last it will outline the New Neighbourhood Policy (NNP) and the impacts on the relations with Ukraine. This part helps to understand in the second part of the research paper why the EU is judging issues towards Ukraine in a certain way.

1.1 Early Relations between the EU and Ukraine

The dialogue between Ukraine and the European Community (EC) began very shortly after the full independence from the former republic of the USSR in 1991. The first top-level meeting between both took place on September 14th 1992. Leaders of their delegations were the Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk and the President of the EC Commission, Jacques Delor (Chronolgy of Bilateral Relations 2005).

Only one year later a representation of the Commission was opened in Kyiv and the EC and Ukraine began negotiating about an Agreement about Partnership and Cooperation, which was signed in June 1994. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) was the first big step in the relations between the European Union (EU) and the sovereign state Ukraine. It should “provide and appropriate framework for a political dialogue between the parties”, “promote … harmonious economic relations”, “provide a basis for mutually advantageous economic, social, financial, civil scientific technological and cultural cooperation” and “support Ukrainian efforts to consolidate democracy” (PCA 1994).^[1]

In 1995 the Temporary Agreement on Trade and Issues related to Trade is signed, in 1996 Ukraine is recognized by the EU as “a country with an economy in transition”. The first Ukraine-EU Summit takes place in Kyiv one year later. It approved Ukraine’s choice for approaching Europe, examined the paths for economic cooperation and discussed the existing problems in the sphere of law and treaties (Chronology of Bilateral Relations 2005).

1.2 The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and the Common Strategy on Ukraine

As already announced in the first part of this chapter, in 1998 an extended Partnership and Cooperation Agreement was signed between the 15 member states of the EU and Ukraine.

On March 1st 1998 the PCA of 1998 came into force (Chronolgy of Bilateral Relations 2005). It highlights again respect for shared fundamental values as an essential element for the relationship. It provides an appropriate framework for political dialogue and sets the principal common objectives in terms of harmonious economic relations, sustainable development and cooperation in a number of areas and support to Ukraine’s efforts towards democracy (The EU’s Relations with Ukraine 2005). This agreement was an important instrument in bringing Ukraine in line with the Single European Market and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The PCA established a framework of bilateral institutions to deal with the future problems between the EU and Ukraine. A Cooperation Council at Ministerial Level was created. In this council the EU-Presidency, the European Commission, the High Representative and the Ukrainian government should meet once a year to supervise the implementation of the PCA (PCA 1998, Article 85).

In Article 90 the PCA created a Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. “It shall be a forum for members of the Ukrainian Parliament and European Parliament to meet and exchange views” (PCA 1998, Article 90).

Furthermore a Cooperation Committee for Senior Civil Servants and six Sub-Committees were founded (The EU’s Relations with Ukraine 2005). They included committees on: (1) Trade and Investments, (2) Financial, Economic Issues and Statistics, (3) Energy, Nuclear Issues and Environment, (4) Customs and Border Cooperation, (5) Transports, Telecommunications and Technology and (6) Coal, Steel, Mining Industries and Raw Material (Chronology of Bilateral Relations 2005).

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^[1] We will not go into detail of the PCA now. Because in 1998 an extended agreement – with the 15 member states – is signed again and will become the basis on any relations between the two partners. This research paper will look at the extended agreement more closely in the next part of this chapter.