To what extent does the EU’s engagement in Ukraine serve for the achieving of the three European Neighborhood Policy goals?

Abstract

Since 2004, The European Union (EU) implements its European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) to ensure safety, stability and prosperity in sixteen of its neighbor countries in order to guarantee these three principles also within the EU. Despite the policy’s successful start, its implementation has been criticized due to the slow progress of the reforms in the neighborhood countries. Critical voices blame the EU for this, because the Union is told to prioritize personal interests without touching upon the countries’ needs for the successful implementation of the reforms. Similar development of events has taken place in Ukraine. The EU is criticized for causing the obstacles that limit the extent to which its engagement in Ukraine serves for the achieving of the three ENP goals – safety, stability and prosperity. The way the policy is elaborated and executed is one-sided and based on EU interests and therefore leads to the emergence of obstacles that limit the extent to which the EU’s engagement serves for the achieving of the three ENP goals. However, the thesis goes beyond this dimension and analyses other possible obstacles that might impede reform progresses in Ukraine and which the EU has no influence on. Results reveal that there are indeed such obstacles, i.e. Corruption and the conflict with the Russian Federation.