Экономические науки/2. Внешнеэкономическая деятельность

Тахтарова Ю.А., Каминский П.Д.

Донецкий национальный университет экономики и торговли имени Михаила Туган-Барановского, Украина

The European vector of Ukrainian integration

Integration processes take place everywhere in the world. States form interstate unions, based on economic or military-political interests. It is important for each country to choose the right way of further integration. Taking into account difference between economic, social and political development integration processes influence each state in a different way.

Ukraine as a young player on world geopolitical arena needs to understand importance of making a right choice. Our country has a lot in common with other former Soviet republics. It is quite clear that these countries have not only common history and common economic relations, but their future is closely connected.

Of course, national interests of many countries have different characters. Thus, some countries of the Near Abroad relate their future with the EU and even the NATO.

It became clear when the GUAM regional group was created (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) – Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, which participated in the NATO summit.

The main purposes of GUAM are:

- promoting democratic values, ensuring rule of law and respect of human rights;

- ensuring sustainable development;

- strengthening international and regional security and stability;

- deepening European integration for the establishment of common security space, and expansion of cooperation in economic and humanitarian spheres;

- development of social and economic, transport, energy, scientific and technical, and humanitarian potential of the Parties;

- intensification of political interaction and practical cooperation in the fields of mutual interest.

In order to achieve these purposes, the Parties shall develop mutually beneficial cooperation, guided by the principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of the states, inviolability of their internationally-recognized borders and non-interference in their internal affairs and other universally recognized principles and norms of international law. GUAM was created supporting the idea of further Ukrainian integration into the European Union.

The way Ukraine’s leadership and society embrace the opportunities offered by European integration process will have a direct impact on the country’s human development prospects. Ukraine can achieve real improvements for the quality of life, poverty reduction and social exclusion. The European integration process offers a unique chance to significantly advance the level of human development.

According to the European parliament, the EU is seeking an increasingly close relationship with Ukraine, going beyond cooperation, to gradual economic integration and deepening of political cooperation. Ukraine is said to be a priority partner within the European Neighborhood Policy. A joint EU-Ukraine Action Plan was endorsed by the European Council on 21 February 2005.

EU-Ukrainian Action Plan is dedicated to the following main points which are important to join the EU: political dialog and reform (democracy and the rule of low, human rights and fundamental freedoms, CFSP and security issues, etc.); economic and social reform and development (macro-economic developments, social developments, etc.); trade, market and regulatory reform (trade trends); сo-operation on Justice, Freedom and Security (JFS); energy, transport, the information society and the environment; people-to-people contacts (research, education and youth, health, culture, audio-visual policy, etc.); assistance.

Since the publication of National Human Development Report (NHDR) in 2003, Ukraine has gone through a period of important political and economic transformations making important steps towards strengthening democracy and transition to a full-fledged market economy.

Ukraine was the first CIS country to sign a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with the EU, in 1994, and to join the Council of Europe. European integration was declared to be the government's strategic goal. However, the PCA was ratified by the EU states only in 1998, when other CEE countries had already moved far ahead with their associate membership. While implementation of the PCA had a long way to go, on June 11 1998 the Ukrainian President approved the Strategy of Integration of Ukraine to the European Union, stating that "national interests of Ukraine require identification of Ukraine as an influential European country, full-fledged EU member". The Strategy defined the principal requirements of the integration process as approximation of Ukrainian legislation to EU legislation, political consolidation and democracy, economic integration and the development of trade, and cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs, and set out the main priorities for state executive bodies.

Over the last years good progress have been made in numerous areas of cooperation between the EU and Ukraine. Major achievements have been democratic parliamentary elections, the launch of negotiations on a new Enhanced Agreement, including a Free Trade Area as core element, the finalization and entry into force of agreements on visa facilitation and readmission, the launch and positive cooperation with the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM), the close cooperation on energy issues and of most recently the finalization of Ukraine’s long accession process to the WTO. There has been also remarkable progress in other areas such as business climate change, transport and education and research.

On the other hand, the political instability over the reporting period has affected the pace of reforms and many difficult but essential institutional and structural changes, including constitutional reforms and basic economic reforms, still have still to be tackled.

Thus, the main vector of Ukrainian integration is the European one. Membership in the EU gives an opportunity to improve economic and social processes in Ukraine. Currently, most political factions in Ukraine advocate joining the EU and developing closer ties with Western Europe. As of December 2008 44.7% of all Ukrainians find it necessary for Ukraine to enter the European Union.