Political and security association of Ukraine to the EU

In a sober ceremony in Brussels, leaders of the EU and its member states, on the one hand, and the interim Prime Minister of Ukraine, on the other, signed the political provisions of the Association Agreement (AA). Steven Blockmans in his article argues that 'whereas these provisions represent only a fraction of the agreement when compared to the bulk of deep and comprehensive free trade arrangements that remain to be signed off, the event on March 21st was nevertheless highly symbolic, committing Ukraine to political and security association to the EU, a move likely to further incense the Kremlin'.

Crucially, he says, the preamble of the agreement emphasises the “independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders” of Ukraine, welcomes its European choice and aspirations, recognises its “common history and common values with the Member States of the European Union", and expresses the parties’ desire of achieving an “ever-closer convergence of positions on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest, taking into account the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union, including the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP)”.

The AA upgrades the existing EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council to an Association Council, commits both parties to conduct dialogue through various fora (incl. political, parliamentary, diplomatic and military dimensions) and introduces a regular bilateral Summit (Art. 5). The European Council agreed that the first meeting in the political dialogue as envisaged under the AA should take place in April.

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