Eastern Partnership Research Articles

МІЖНАРОДНІ ВІДНОСИНИ МІЖ КРАЇНАМИ ЛЮБЛІНСЬКОГО ТРИКУТНИКА – НОВИЙ ФОРМАТ СПІВПРАЦІ КРІЗЬ ПРИЗМУ ІСТОРИЧНОГО МИНУЛОГО

The article examines the historical origins and further cooperation of the Lublin Triangle countries - Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania – Central and Eastern Europe, the history of which reflects the development of this region in the east of this part of the world. Combined by geographical proximity, foreign policy threats and a common socio-cultural tradition, they have a complex history of development and coexistence. The agreements made during a certain period of time are analyzed, conclusions are made. Opportunities have been identified for strengthening cooperation between the OSCE, the European Union, the Council of Europe, NATO and the Eastern Partnership countries. The possibility of joining the Republic of Belarus to a new format of relations and turning the triangle into a square for further joint cooperation in the direction of expanding opportunities in the field of energy, defense, cultural and social spheres was considered. The youth initiative on creation of a platform for interaction of youth of Ukraine with youth of Lithuania and Poland for the purpose of expansion of cultural, social and educational communications and an exchange of experience for creation of joint projects is considered. The future development of states and interstate initiatives depends on the active work of young people, the creation of the youth wing of the Lublin Triangle is a logical continuation of the interstate initiative, which will not only ensure youth participation in social and political life, but also positively affect Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian relations. thanks to youth diplomacy, will promote the development of European integration processes in Ukraine. An important initiative within the Lublin Triangle was the creation of a Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade – LitPolUkrBrig, which provides for international peacekeeping and security operations under the auspices of the UN, EU, NATO and other international security organizations. Conclusions are made on the advantages and disadvantages of countries' participation in the new format of relations between the countries of the Lublin Triangle.

Idiosyncrasies and ideologies in the evolution of EU relations with eastern partnership states

Idiosyncrasies and ideologies in the evolution of EU relations with eastern partnership states

МАЛЕ ПІДПРИЄМНИЦТВО В УКРАЇНІ: ОЦІНКА СОЦІАЛЬНО-ЕКОНОМІЧНИХ ПЕРЕДУМОВ ТА ПЕРЕШКОД РОЗВИТКУ

The article substantiates an important factor in the socio-economic development of the state is the development of the business sector in general and small businesses in particular. This highlights the need to study the socio-economic preconditions and the state of formation and realization of the potential of small business in Ukraine. The article analyzes the quantitative indicators of small businesses (including those compared to the EU). According to the results of generalizing various surveys and monitoring, the main barriers to doing business in Ukraine are the low purchasing power of citizens, restrictive measures in connection with the pandemic, fiscal pressure, as well as pressure from government agencies, and corruption. It is established that according to the SME policy index, Ukraine, despite some improvement in the environment for the business sector, still has less favorable conditions for business activity compared to the Eastern Partnership countries. Based on the analysis of Ukraine’s rating positions according to a number of indices, it has been established that our state demonstrates the most unfavorable conditions for the development of small businesses according to the index of perception of corruption and economic freedom. Among the trends that indicate the improvement of conditions for the formation and realization of the potential of small business in Ukraine is the increase of Ukraine’s rating position on the indices of ease of doing business and ease of paying taxes. It is proved that the conditions of small business lending in Ukraine, although showing some improvement, still remain unfavorable and hinder the development of small businesses. An important tool for the formation and realization of the potential of small business is its grant support, the most important partner in providing which for Ukraine in the EU. It is proved that Ukraine has a well-developed infrastructure to support small businesses, but the formality of its operation is quite common. According to the criterion of compliance with the principle of predictability in regulatory activities, most government agencies show a fairly low level of predictability, which is a deterrent to business development, as it increases the uncertainty of the business environment. It is proved that despite the presence of a number of problems and deterrents for small business development, Ukraine has a significant number of strengths and opportunities for the formation, development, and realization of small business potential.

Eastern Partnership Association Agreements in the Mirror of Global Ungovernance: Where Does the DCFTA Lead?

The paper focuses on powers’ dissolving effects brought by Eastern Partnership Association agreements, signed with Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia, to associated states’ governance systems and practices and the development of associations’ institutions and procedures. To that end, the research utilizes the concepts of “ungovernance” and “global ungovernance” that, in the authors’ view, possess significant explanation potential in the field. The paper reviews the emergence of said concepts, which may be traced back to the mid of 1990th. It emphasizes the main features of those concepts concerning both national states and transnational institution-building projects. The dispersion of powers due to the implementation of association agreements is caused by the extension of obligations far beyond those needed to implement the DCFTA and binding the market access with progress in other fields. Such agreement’s design brings the notions of “uncertainty” and “inconsistencies” into assessing the institutional and procedural issues of its implementation. The paper also analyses the side-effects of the lack of accession perspective, which, combined with extensive obligations towards approximation to the EU legislation, creates an “impossibility of closure” effect (i.e., impossibility to reach objectives set). Such an effect happens due to unclear goals and discouragement of actors involved in the implementation because of the absence of future membership guarantees. The paper also suggests that the implementation process’s failures may result in significant institutional and procedural rearrangements within the association agreements’ frameworks to adjust the governance mode to cope with such failures.

The evolution of the common foreign and security policy of the European Union

The article analyzes the stages of formation of the common foreign and security policy of the Eu-ropean Union. The main events and decisions of world leaders that influenced the formation of the general idea of the world community about the common foreign and security policy are considered. The paper focuses on the constant desire of the European community to agree on the creation of a single effective mechanism for a common foreign and security policy of the EU. Although, in the initial stages of integration, the countries of the «European six» failed to initiate integration in the defense and political spheres. Integration continued to develop in other areas, and European countries and their leaders took new steps to converge in the regulation of the common security policy. The positive and negative consequences of each step of the evolution and formation of the common foreign and security policy of the European Union, as well as the reaction of EU member states and other leading countries to them are highlighted. The current global events that have a significant impact on the mechanism of implementation of EU security policy are analyzed. The opinions of scientists and practitioners, European and world leaders on the implementation of common foreign and security policy are studied. It has been proved that Ukraine, as the leader of the Eastern Partnership, needs to improve its status, use security issues to work out joint decisions on a closer military partnership between it and the EU countries.

Foreign trade of Georgia in the context of the development of integration processes

The article researches the development of foreign trade in goods of Georgia in the context of the country's participation in international integration processes from the mid-1990s to the present. The evolution and features of Georgias participation in such integration organizations and projects as the Commonwealth of Independent States, GUAM, the Eastern Partnership of European Union, as well as interaction with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union are examined. Based on a detailed analysis of the dynamics, commodity and geographical structure of Georgias foreign trade in goods in the long term period, the article substantiates the conclusion that the participation of Georgia in the Free Trade Agreements, as well as trade liberalization carried out in integration blocks, have practically no effect to change the exportimport flows of the country, and do not lead to an increase in foreign trade with the member countries of the integrations. The most significant factors that determine Georgias foreign trade and its trends are the country's geographical location and the level of the transport infrastructure development, the implementation of large-scale transport and logistics projects in the region, external financing provided to the country by international and regional organizations, foreign countries, on a credit and grant basis.

Tertium datur: Multi-attribute reference points and integration choices between the European Union and Eurasian Economic Union

The article imports insights from prospect theory into the study of integration choices of ruling elites from Eastern Partnership countries. It introduces the notion of multi-attribute reference points and provides an example of identifying their coordinates, against which ruling elites from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are expected to consider distinct integration choices: the European Union or Eurasian Economic Union. The research finds that ruling elites from Eastern Partnership countries with the lowest levels of affluence, with medium to high intensity conflicts with Russia and with lower, but still non-trivial costs of domestic transformation have tended to be risk-seeking and opted for the European Union as an integration choice. However, ruling elites from Eastern Partnership countries with low and medium levels of affluence, with no conflict with Russia and with medium to high costs of domestic transformation have tended to be risk-averse and selected the Eurasian Economic Union as an integration option.

International Negotiations and Domestic Change in the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood: Deconstructing Antidiscrimination Reforms in Moldova

Democratic reforms, or lack thereof, in countries addressed by the European Union’s (EU’s) Eastern Partnership initiative (EaP) have attracted considerable scholarly attention. Yet many studies approach these countries’ political and policy developments through the lens of external actors’ (especially the EU and Russia’s) engagements. While accounting for international influences, this article lends agency to the domestic actors by scrutinizing the antidiscrimination reform process in Moldova, one of the EaP countries with closer relations to the EU, against the background of their negotiations. In doing so, the article explains the outcome of the reform and makes a case for applying Robert Putnam’s (1988) Two-Level-Game approach to an analysis of a controversial reform process surrounded by international and domestic pressures in a nonconsolidated democracy. In addition to its empirical contribution, the article seeks to advance the applicability boundaries of the Two-Level-Game theory beyond classical Foreign Policy Analysis in a democratic context and enhance the scholarly debate on the external–domestic interplay in policy change and norm adoption.

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM BASED ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU EASTERN PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM IN UKRAINE

The article systematizes the principles and results of the EU Eastern Partnership program in the field of public administration. The procedures of institution-building mechanisms and the model of functioning of the Twinning Program in the Southern and Eastern regions of the European Neighbourhood Policy are presented. It is established that the areas of implementation of the Eastern Partnership tasks are represented in three cross-cutting areas (civil society; gender equality; strategic communications) and seventeen grouped within four priorities (economic development and market opportunities; institution building and good governance; energy efficiency, interconnectedness, and climate change, people-to-people contacts and mobility. It is proved that the positive results of the public administration system based on the implementation of the EU Eastern Partnership Program in Ukraine are: security of the participating states, strengthening of political dialogue, implementation of economic and structural reforms and participation in a number of EU programs, etc. Keywords: European Union, European integration, Eastern Partnership, public administration, association agreement.

Analysis of the Current State and Prospects of Implementation of the Public-Private Partnership Mechanism in the Oil and Gas Industry of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan

The relevance of research on the implementation of the public-private partnership mechanism is determined by the important role of the state in investment projects of oil and gas enterprises. The article discusses the global practice and the experience of applying the mechanism of public-private partnership in the oil and gas sector of the Russian economy, identifies elements of the synergistic effect of public-private partnership, describes models of public-private partnership, presents successful examples of public-private partnership in the oil and gas sector of Russia. The key problem of the implementation of the mechanism of public-private partnership in Russia is identified, which consists in the insufficient development of medium-term and long-term financing and it is proposed to increase the level of attracted foreign capital through project financing. An assessment of the application of the mechanism of public-private partnership in the countries of the Eastern Partnership is carried out and the experience of the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan is considered. The creation of a Public-Private Partnership Development Center in Azerbaijan is proposed to support public-private partnership policies, as well as support projects and programs of partnership between the state and business.

Partnership of State and Business in Transcaucasia: History and Current Trends

The article aims to present generally the dynamics of political and economic systems on the territory of Transcaucasia in the period from the second millennium BC to the present. This dynamics is seen as reflecting the historical experience of the Transcaucasian societies, whih is successively preserved at the present time. Institutional aspects are studied of public-private partnership projects currently being implemented by the South-Caucasian member states of the Eastern Partnership integration association.

La influencia de la Unión Europea en el espacio postsoviético: La asociación oriental (2009-2019)

espanolEn el ano 2009 se puso en marcha dentro de la Politica Europea de Vecindad una nueva iniciativa regional por parte de la Union Europea, la denominada Asociacion Oriental. Se creo para impulsar las relaciones con los vecinos de Europa Oriental y del Caucaso Meridional: Armenia, Azerbaiyan, Bielorrusia, Georgia, Moldavia y Ucrania. Para la Union Europea este proyecto estaba destinado a estrechar la integracion economica y la asociacion politica en dos zonas del continente europeo en las que la seguridad y la estabilidad democratica era, y sigue siendo, una prioridad. EnglishA new regional initiative by the European Union, the Eastern Partnership, was launched within the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2009. It was created to boost the relations and Southern Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. For the European Union, this initiative was designed to strengthen economic integration and political partnership in two areas of the European continent where security and democratic stability was, and remains, a priority

Interdependences with external actors and regime persistence in Eastern Partnership countries*

ABSTRACT This article addresses how both external democratic and non-democratic actors impact the persistence of non-democratic regimes in third countries. We focus on asymmetrical interdependences and advance the literature on the role of transnational flows by highlighting under which conditions and based on which mechanisms interdependences contribute to the persistence of non-democratic regimes. We investigate if the dominant mechanisms emerging from interdependences vary with the type of interdependence (vulnerability or sensitivity). We draw on evidence from empirical studies of Armenia, Belarus and Azerbaijan and their interdependences with Russia and the EU in the period of 2005–2015.

Crisis response, path dependence, and the joint decision trap: the EU’s eastern and Russia policies after the Ukraine crisis

ABSTRACT The outbreak of the Ukraine crisis has been widely seen as heralding a critical change in relations between the European Union (EU) and Russia. Both path dependence and the joint decision trap have influenced EU responses to the crisis in terms of its broader policy toward Russia, the Eastern Partnership, and energy policy. The nature of the EU's response has involved a combination of sustained crisis response and incremental change, reflecting relative continuity in the underlying principles governing the approach combined with immediate crisis response measures. The EU's approach reflects elements of both conflict and cooperation in the relationship.

Humanitarian Tools of EU External Policy: The Case of Eastern Partnership

The article deals with recent developments in the EU foreign policy towards neighbouring countries. The EU humanitarian influence mechanisms within the framework of European Neighbourhood Policy, Eastern Partnership program, along with the case of Belarus are explored. The article outlines that the European Union creates instruments of external influence through fostering humanitarian infrastructure in the periphery countries. As a result, the official government of a targeted country is not only unable to participate in the shaping of “European norms and rules”, but also ceases to be the single Brussel‟s counterpart. NGOs supported by the EU involve in to the dialogue between Brussels and the official government on behalf of the civil society. The latter contributes to the asymmetrical “teacher-apprentice” relationship between the EU and the bordering countries. Particular humanitarian instruments and cases exercised by the EU are explored. The interconnections between economic, political, and humanitarian tools in EU foreign policy are outlined. It is concluded that the “soft power” concept fails to explain comprehensively the EU foreign policy in the humanitarian sphere. Brussels seeks to exert systemic influence upon the humanitarian sphere of the periphery countries to bolster its political and economic position.

The European Union's ‘Potential We’ between Acceptance and Contestation: Assessing the Positioning of Six Eastern Partnership Countries*

AbstractThe present contribution analyses the European neighbourhood policy and the Eastern Partnership (EaP), which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2019, from the perspective of social identity theory. It is argued that the evolution of both the European neighbourhood policy and the EaP corresponds to the emergence of a distinct EU identity: its ‘potential we’, which has been defying the Russian ‘significant we’ extended to the EaP states. Drawing on the framing analysis of strategic documents and statements, which identifies eight distinct themes, the contribution ascertains three different patterns of EaP states’ interaction with the EU: Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine accepting the ‘EU's potential we’, Armenia holding to the potential we, and Azerbaijan, as well as Belarus, contesting the potential we.

Eastern Partnership vis-à-vis challenges and doubts

Eastern Partnership initiative and program sparkled ongoing and intensive debates. It raised some concerns and doubts regarding the efficacy and effectiveness of EaP. Still, the only country, which perceived this initiative of the EU as a direct threat was and is Russia. War against Georgia, later annexation of Crimea and War on Donbas, a hybrid war against Ukraine and many western countries are key challenges for the EU also. European Union and NATO are in a search for more consolidated respond towards new reality up today. 
 EaP design and potential are too weak to be good enough for partners’ countries themselves. Despite many deficiencies, this policy is important to encourage horizontal cooperation of 6 partners’ countries and make their ties with the EU stronger and more productive. However, the overall goals and instruments of EaP do require thorough reconsideration and new incentives to move forward from a current, somehow hesitant and stagnated, position. 

Political Identities of Ukrainian Society in the Context of the EU Eastern Partnership Policy

The dynamics of European integration in Ukraine, defined by the Eastern Partnership Programme over the last decade, has attained many undeniable successes. Still, the current geopolitical situation leaves room for risks for both Ukraine and the entire community of European states. Faced with Russia’s armed aggression, Ukraine is especially intent upon tackling the barriers of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, which for years have been inherent in its foreign policy, and its choice of European identity. That having been said, the issue of political identity remains as urgent as ever, since taking account of the identifying features, and the study of the evolution and trends of the political identity of Ukrainian society paves the way for Ukraine’s integration into the European political system.
 Now, the identity of Ukrainians, which is still at the formative stage, can be described as partially ambivalent. In the meanwhile, a tendency towards acquiring the European system of values, in contrast to the Russian and Soviet ones, is being observed as well.
 Among the prevalent political identities that have emerged in Ukrainian societies under various historical, geopolitical, and cultural circumstances, two incompatibles yet competing groups—Western, represented by Ukrainian and European identities, and Eastern, represented by Russian and Soviet identities—can be discerned. In this regard, identities are not interpreted in terms of ethnicity but as politically constructible.
 The article analyses Ukraine’s European integration successes over the last years, which not only contributes to the upstream dynamics of European and Ukrainian identities but also prevents competitive identities from going forward. Today, the European foreign policy course indisputably unites the Ukrainian nation, having a positive impact on its cooperation with the European Union in terms of politics, economy, and culture.

Joint Study Programmes in the Educational Policy and Law of Eastern Partnership Countries

This paper aims at analysing the policy and legal framework of joint study programmes in Eastern Partnership countries (EaP countries) in frames of the standards of the European Higher Education Area and providing the recommendations on its enhancement. It is concluded that the internationalization of higher education has been considered as one of the key priorities of the educational policy in EaP countries, however, more emphasis on the role of the joint study programmes is needed. The level of specification of legislative requirements on joint study programmes in EaP countries differs. The educational laws in Georgia, Moldova include special provisions devoted to joint study programmes, in Ukraine – basic framework, including the possibility to establish joint study programmes and awarding the joint degrees, while respective legislation in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus – just general provisions regarding the international cooperation of higher educational institutions. It is suggested to implement the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes in national laws and regulations in EaP countries, first of all, in part of the definition of joint study programmes and the recognition of the accreditation decisions of foreign quality assurance agencies.

Eastern Partnership – Tasks for a New Decade

Eastern Partnership – Tasks for a New Decade