From Cold War to Lukewarm Embrace: The European Union' Agreements with the CIS States

Abstract

ON Christmas Day, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union, giving up a protracted struggle to keep the 69-year-old State together. The 12 successor countries, all now members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), have since suffered over three years of economic freefall, unchecked by hesitant or non-existent economic reforms. This collapse has been punctuated by civil wars, coup attempts and wars between member States. Amid this chaos the European Union (EU) has moved to establish formal trade relations with six of the ex-Soviet States, and is considering a similar relationship with five more. 1 The vehicles for these relationships are partnership and cooperation agreements (PCAs) with each ex-Soviet State. The new agreements aim to establish the guidelines for the European Union's relations with each ex-Soviet State. They fit a niche near the bottom of the EU's hierarchy of trade relations, between the EU's "standard" non-preferential trade and cooperation agreements with developing countries and the EU's preferential agreements of the 1970s with Mediterranean States. The "standard" trade agreements lack the partnership agreements' detailed provisions for political dialogue and establishment, while the Mediterranean agreements offer free entry of industrial goods into the EU and concessions on important agricultural exports. However, the partnership agreements fall several levels below the Europe agreements (EAs) with Eastern European States. 2 This delay in developing trade with ex-Soviet countries means that the EU risks missing an opportunity to enhance relations as quickly or as fully as it could once the ex-Soviet economies resume growth. • Lecturer. Centre for European Commercial Law, University of Essex.

The Evolution of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Current Challenges of a Disintegrated Neighbourhood

“…Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (PCA) were concluded with the Eastern neighbours in the 1990s, with the exception of Belarus. Although they can be characterized as mere trade agreements (Hillion 1998), the PCAs also appeared to be advantageous due to the incorporation of a political dialogue previously lacking (Peers 1995). In the South, Association Agreements were signed within the Barcelona process, which allegedly offered a far-reaching cooperation.…”