Where Do We Go from Here? EU Relations with the Eastern Partnership Avant Garde

Abstract

This chapter looks at the relations between the European Union and the Eastern Partnership avant garde, that is Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova. In the course of the last ten years these three countries negotiated and signed very ambitious Association Agreements, which promise enhanced bilateral relations but without an explicit offer of EU membership on the horizon. At the same time, the signals coming from Kyiv, Tbilisi and (occasionally) Chis , inȃu indicate that the choice of a pro-EU trajectory is there to stay. With this in mind the analysis looks at the heart of the Association Agreements, that is, law approximation and, in broader terms, the way in which the association is developing. The author argues that the EU is reaching a point when, as in any close relationship, it will have to make its future intentions clear. Towards the end of the chapter a few suggestions as to the next steps forward are made. The easiest, and the most do-able option is to regularly update the lists of the EU acquis pencilled in for approximation. Furthermore, the relations could be upgraded by a reformed institutional framework, potentially modelled on the draft EU-Swiss Institutional Agreement and the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. The parties may also wish to explore additional areas of co-operation, going beyond the current parameters of the Association Agreements. The EU also needs to be prepared that at some point in the future applications for membership may arrive.