Relationship between EU and Ukraine - Research Paper Example

Relationship between EU and Ukraine In the past, the European Union considered Ukraine to be one of their valued partners despite the fact that their relationship faced some hardships. There are a number of factors that are believed to have contributed to the hardships of the relationship between the EU and Ukraine. One of the factors is the EU’s unpreparedness to give in to the expansion of the post –soviet space. The post-soviet space refers to the geographical area that previously used to be covered by the Soviet Union. Another factor would be the lack of good performance of the Ukraine economy. The Ukraine political system which does not encourage democracy might also have been a hindering factor to the good relationship between the EU and Ukraine. Some people also believe that the relationship between Russia and Ukraine would have also contributed to this hardship. Russia has been long known to have a poor relationship with Ukraine. The preparation of Ukraine to accession into the EU began in the year 2012 in Brussels. However, by November the same year, the twenty seven governments under the European Union and the European parliament had not signed the agreement. This was a result of the poor relationship between the EU and Ukraine because of the way the former prime minister of Ukraine, YuliaTymoshenko was treated and sentenced. The European Union and a section of its member states, Germany being the most notable, had resulted to putting some pressure on the then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich to stop the sentencing of the former prime minister because of her poor health status (Movchan and Shportyuk 12). Despite there being a number of meetings that had been organized between the EU and the Ukraine government, the EU leaders had snubbed some of these meetings. The relationship between Ukraine and the EU only got worse after this. In the year 2012, the EU leaders snubbed the 2012 UEFA Euro championships after being requested to do so by Ukraine’s opposition leaders. The EU leaders asserted that there would be no signing of the Association Agreement if Ukraine did not attend to the concerns about democracy in their political system. The issues touched on in this assertion included the imprisoning of YuriyLutsenko and Tymoshenko. In December the same year, the European Union’s Foreign Affairs council affirmed that the union was still committed to approving Association Agreement. This was inclusive of a free trade area. However, the EU had some conditions that Ukraine had to fulfill before they could approve the Association Agreement. Their condition was that the Ukraine government should show some commitment fulfilling the requirements that the union had previously made for the agreement to be signed (Manoli 62). This was supposed to take place before the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius took place the following year. The European Union expected the Ukraine government to make reforms in their constitution that would affect the country’s judiciary and electoral processes. In February 2013, the Ukraine government through their embassy to the EU rejected the conditions that the EU had put in place for the signing of the Association Agreement. However, during the same month a majority of the parliament resolved to use their parliamentary powers to make sure that the conditions that the EU had given for the signing of the AA would be met. During the EU-Ukraine summit held on the 25th of February, the European Council through their president, Van Rompuy made a follow up of the statement that the council made in December the previous year. He reiterated that the EU expected the Ukraine government to show some commitment towards fulfilling their recommendations by May the same year. In response to this follow up, the Ukraine government said that they will do all that they can in order to fulfill the requirements made by the European Union. During the same period, the Ukraine government was negotiating with the Russian government on finding the appropriate model that would enable proper cooperation between Ukraine and the custom unions of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia. This would turn out to be a problem because the EU asserted that a country cannot be allowed to be in “a deep common free-trade area with the European Union” while at the same time being a member of a customs union (Dabrowski andTaran 73). In order to carry out proper coordination as Ukraine prepared to ne integrated into the EuropeanUnion, the Ukraine government developed a plan that prioritized the measure of their integration into the European Union. The government had the assumption that if the plan was successfully implemented, the signing of the Association Agreement would eventually take place. The plan targeted to have convinced the European Union by the time that the Eastern Partnership Summit took place in Vilnius on the 29th of November the same year. During a parliamentary session of the European parliament, the European’s Commissioner For enlargement informed the members that despite the fact that the Ukraine government had shown some commitment towards fulfilling the EU terms there were still some occurrences in the country that would hinder the signing of the agreement. One of such occurrences was the how the mandate of Tymoshoko’s lawyer was annulled in the Ukrainian parliament (Tarr 91). However, the following day the Ukraine government through their ministry of foreign affair commutated that they were opportunistic that the agreement would be eventually approved in November 2013. In April the same year Lutsenko was let free prison after exemptions from all the crimes for which he had been sentenced. This was followed by exemption of the other minister from the previous regimen from punishment. During anUkrainian parliamentary session in September, the president pleaded with the members of the parliament to adopts laws that will see to it that the EU signs the Association Agreement. Before the end of this month, the member of members of the Ukraine parliament had approved the draft association agreement (Åslund 64). They even later communicated their commitment towards passing laws that were needed to fulfill the requirements by the EU for the signing of the Association Agreement. However, the Ukraine’s parliament failed to pass the required bills by November. This resulted to the biggest protest in the history of Ukraine which was believed to be the biggest since the orange movement. It was not only after the impeachment of Yanukovych, and his replacement by a temporal government that the conditions of the signing of the association agreements were finally met. The Association Agreement was finally signed in the month of May 2014. The agreement expected both side to attend regular summits. The agreement also expected the members to cooperate on policy, judiciary, and legislative related issues across the borders. There are a number of advantages that are associated to Ukraine being part of the EU. Both Ukraine and the European Union would benefit in a number of ways from this agreement. For Ukraine the ways through which they benefit from the inclusion of Ukraine in EU include: new heights of economic involvement, investments and growth, a new form of economic freedom, better political environment and many other (Van21). Because of the introduction of free trade Ukraine will be able to enjoy free markets from the other European countries making it easier for their products to be sold in the European markets without fears of being subjected to unfair competition by the local products. Another benefit might come in the form of investments. As a result of Ukraine to accession into the EU, there will be an increase in the number of European investors to the country. This will be encouraged by the new political atmosphere and the inclusion of the country into the EU (Ivanter 27). There will also be an increased economic freedom which might in many ways contribute to the increase in the number of economic activities in the country. All these improvements will eventually contribute to the development of the economy of Ukraine. Another impact of inclusion of Ukraine in the EU is that this will enhance the political freedom in the country which was earned through hard means. The EU is well known for their advocacy for political freedom and democracy. This can be seen in the conditions that they had given the Ukraine government for them to sign the Association Agreement. The EU will also benefit from the inclusion of Ukraine in the EU in a number of ways. As a result of this agreement, the EU’s economic involvement in Ukraine is likely to increase. As much as Ukraine stand to benefit from the free trade, this is seen as a win-win situation under which both the involved parties will benefit from the agreement through their trade activities across the borders (Carneiro 2). The increased investments of European investors in Ukraine will also benefit the EU economically. The cooperation of both parties in matters such as technology, science, meteorology, will enable exchange of ideas from both sides. This will mean that both sides will be in a position to make sure that they gain from the advancements that the other party has that they do not have. This is mostly deemed to benefit Ukraine. This is specifically because of the level of advancement that the European Union and its member countries have n things such as technology. As a result of this association Ukraine will be able to easily get access to these developments during the exchange programs. The inclusion of Ukraine n the EU can also be seen as an initial step towards creating good relations between the EU and countries from the east. Given that Ukraine is geographically connected to both side its inclusion in the EU will be very important in this course. This is a very important step toward making advancement toward enhancing global trade and improving the trade relations between the European Union and counters from the east. It will also enhance peaceful co-existence. It is evident that there are a number of benefits of the inclusion of Ukraine in the EU. Critics of the Association Agreement claim that the agreement was meant for the benefit the European Union. Looking at the effect of the agreement ever since it was signed, someone can easily notice that it has benefited Ukraine in a number ways. The benefits are political, economic and social. The benefits mentioned herein disapprove these claims about the agreement. Proper scrutiny proofs that both parties stand to gain from the Association Agreement. Work Cited Åslund, Anders. "Ukraine’s Choice: European Association Agreement or Eurasian Union?." Policy Brief 13-26 (2013). Carneiro, Fracisco. "What Promises Does the Eurasian Customs Union Hold for the Future?." World Bank-Economic Premise 108 (2013): 1-5. Dabrowski, Marek, and SvitlanaTaran. Is free trade with the EU good for Ukraine?.No. 06.CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research, 2012. Ivanter, Viktor, et al. "The Economic Effects of the Creation of the Single Economic Space and Potential Accession of Ukraine." Eurasian Integration Yearbook 2012 (2012). Manoli, Panagiota. "Political Economy aspects of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements."Eastern Journal of European Studies 4 (2013): 51-73. Movchan, Veronika, and VolodymyrShportyuk.EU-Ukraine DCFTA: The Model for Eastern Partnership Regional Trade Cooperation. No. 0445.CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research, 2012. Tarr, David G. "The Eurasian Customs Union among Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan: Can It Succeed Where Its Predecessor Failed?." Belarus and Kazakhstan: Can It Succeed Where Its Predecessor Failed (2012). Van, Vooren B. Eu External Relations Law and the European Neighbourhood Policy: A Paradigm for Coherence. London: Routledge, 2012. Print. Read More