The implementation of the Association Agreement (AA), including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), between the EU and Ukraine has brought about a qualitatively new situation in the development of border regions and regional societies on both sides of the Schengen border. This volume’s comparative study of the impacts of the AA and the DCFTA on borderlands in Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania will contribute to the identification of new opportunities for cross-border cooperation and policy considerations for its further development.

For Ukraine, the signing of the Association Agreement and the DCFTA with the European Union in 2014 was an act of strategic geopolitical significance. Emblematic of the struggle to replace the Yanukovych regime at home and to resist attempts by Russia to deny its ‘European choice’, the Association Agreement is a defiant statement of Ukraine’s determination to become an independent democratic state. The purpose of this Handbook is to make the complex political, economic and legal content of the Association Agreement readily understandable. This second edition, published two years into the Agreement’s implementation, adds new value, charting Ukraine’s progress in putting the Agreement into effect. Two teams of researchers from leading independent think tanks, CEPS in Brussels and the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) in Kyiv, collaborated on this project, with the support of the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). This Handbook is one of a trilogy examining similar Association Agreements made by the EU with Georgia and Moldova

In The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, Guillaume Van der Loo provides the first comprehensive legal analysis of this complex and controversial international agreement. While key political and legal hurdles towards the signing and conclusion of this agreement are analysed, its scope and contents are scrutinised and contrasted to other international agreements concluded by the EU. Specific attention is devoted to the ambitious “deep and comprehensive free trade area” and the unique provisions related to Ukraine’s approximation to the EU acquis. In particular, this book explores to what extent the agreement can be considered a new legal instrument for ‘EU integration without membership’.

The Association Agreement (AA) concluded in 2014 between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine will have far-reaching consequences for the future of private law in Ukraine, a topic which will be explored in this paper. It will set out with a general survey of the Association Agreement (I.), then turn to its impact on private law (II.) and finally outline some considerations relevant to implementation (III.).

"External relations is currently among the most dynamic areas of EU law. This volume gathers leading analysts to assess core recent developments in the field, taking stock of the current law and potential developments in major policy areas." "Together, these essays present a clear picture of the complex development of EU external relations, and of the struggle for coherence in the increasingly active, visible, and self-conscious role played by the EU as a participant in the international legal order."--BOOK JACKET.

The implementation of common policies established by the constitutive agreements of the Euroregions, and operational development of cross-border cooperation have led to the increase of contacts between Romanian and Ukrainian institutions. The European territorial cooperation at the European Union's outer borders has two major components: Cohesion Policy and European Neighborhood Policy. Europe's diversity is considered a valuable characteristic which should be exploited and promoted. This diversity can be noticed in the social and cultural life of all the countries and regions from Europe. The concept of Euroregion, as well as the cooperation in the international system form imposed in the European area is based on the strength and collaboration of the civil society and the mutual economic and political interests. According to this concept, the future Europe can be understood not only as a Europe of states, but also as a Europe of Regions having economic, political and military interests at an international level.

This unique book, representing the main output of the Jean Monnet Multilateral Research Project granted by the European Commission, is dedicated to the legal and political dimension of the European Union policy towards its Eastern neighbours, namely Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. The Eastern Partnership clearly occupies a privileged position in the EU’s external relations and constitutes an important “Eastern axis” of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The book examines relevant material from a broad perspective, and attention is paid to the in-depth analysis of Eastern Partnership Agreements and the new Association agreements, examining their place in the External Relations Law of the EU and the legal mechanisms of their operation. In this respect, comparisons with the previous Association agreements with the states of the Central Europe are also made here. A great part of the book is also dedicated to an analysis of the issues of human rights, the rule of law, and legal approximation as a key element of the acceptation of duties of the association countries. Recent political unrest in Ukraine in connection with the delay of the signature of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement has also shown that this contract instrument is considered to be a key indicator in geopolitical terms, as a concrete expression and powerful symbol of the future orientation of this Partnership state and its willingness to share common European values. This volume’s analysis of this document enables a better understanding of the reasons for, and the core of, this development. The diversity of contributors to this book allows a multi-perspectival analysis, incorporating views from old and new EU Member States, as well as Partnership states, and reflects the recent experiences of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Estonia with regards to the implementation of the Association Agreements. The volume is also opened by the preface of the Commissioner for the Enlargement, Eastern Partnership and the Association, Stefan Füle, and reflects his experience in these matters.