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The new enhanced Agreement between Ukraine and the EU: proposals of Ukrainian Experts

Policy Paper 8

Subjected to the available EU law standards and national interests of Ukraine and based on the experience of the association and partnership agreements between EU and third countries in the past and those, which presently are being negotiated, the expert group proposes to consider the New Enhanced Agreement between Ukraine and EU (NEA) as initiation of a new type of association agreement (the “fourth-generation” agreement). It embraces a wide range of issues of mutual interests, provides the in-depth detailed elaboration of priority fields and stipulates the system of consecutive steps towards the Ukraine’s EU integration by proceeding to new integration stages. the precondition is that the previous challenges have been performed (principle of con-ditionality). The expert group proposes to follow the current EU law standards that include olden models of association agreements between EU and third countries (such as agreements with Turkey, Greece, Malta or Cyprus), enhanced third generation European agree-ments (entered into by and between the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of the 90s) as well as Stabilization and Association Agreements (presently proposed to be concluded to the countries of Western Balkans).

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INTRODUCTION

In March 2007 the EU and Ukraine opened formal negotiations on the New Enhanced Agreement (NEA) intended to substitute the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which effective term would expire in March 2008. PCA is envisaged to become a foundation stone in contractual and legal relations between Ukraine and EU at least during next 10 years. As of December 2007, six rounds of negotiations were held where the parties agreed on the considerable part of the text of the future agreement. The negotiations were oriented on the following subjects: Political Dialogue and Reforms as well as Coopera-tion and Convergence in the Field of Foreign and Security Policy; Justice, Freedom and Security; and Sectoral Cooperation. After the procedure for the Ukraine’s WTO acces-sion is completed, the negotiations on the Full-Fledged Free Trade Area will be open. It ought to be recognized that the parties are far from reaching consensus on a num-ber of matters of principle, and examination of the most fundamental debatable issues is postponed till the final stage of negotiations. Given that it is necessary to engage the general public and independent experts in the discussion of future Ukraine-EU contractual-legal relations and and the negotiation process. The expert group, created on the initiative of the Institute of Euro-Atlantic Cooperation and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, has developed the recommendations set forth below. These recommendations do not cover the subject of future NEA in full but spread only to those its parts, which are the most disputable and/or sensitive and socially significant for both Ukraine and European Union.

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