Exploring the Role of the EU in Domestic Change in the Post-Soviet States
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: CREES
Abstract
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Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Kataryna Wolczuk (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Ash, T., Gunn, J., Lough, J., Lutsevych, O., Nixey, J., Sherr, J. And Wolczuk, K
(2017)
The Struggle for Ukraine. Chatham House Report
Averre D
(2016)
Introduction: The Ukraine Crisis and Post-Post-Cold War Europe
in Europe-Asia Studies
Delcour L
(2013)
Eurasian Economic Integration - Law, Policy and Politics
Delcour L
(2015)
Spoiler or facilitator of democratization?: Russia's role in Georgia and Ukraine
in Democratization
Delcour L
(2013)
Meandering Europeanisation. EU policy instruments and policy convergence in Georgia under the Eastern Partnership
in East European Politics
Delcour L
(2015)
The EU's Unexpected 'Ideal Neighbour'? The Perplexing Case of Armenia's Europeanisation
in Journal of European Integration
Delcour L And Wolczuk K
(2017)
Theorizing the European Neighbourhood Policy
Dragneva R
(2013)
Eurasian Economic Integration - Law, Policy and Politics
Dragneva R
(2014)
The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and the Challenges of Inter-Regionalism
in Review of Central and East European Law
Dragneva R
(2016)
Between Dependence and Integration: Ukraine's Relations With Russia
in Europe-Asia Studies
| Description | The project explored the impact of the EU on domestic change in the post-Soviet countries. The main findings are as follows: 1. Key academic findings: a) The EU has become an influential actor in the post-Soviet region especially since the launch of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in 2009 in those countries which negotiated the Association Agreements (Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine). b) Overall, the EU is effective in promoting domestic change even in countries without membership aspirations and/or perspective. This indicates a more limited role of the membership perspective than assumed in in the existing academic literature on non-accession Europeanisation. c) EU conditionality related to Agreements and visa liberalisation, combined with targeted assistance, are the key mechanisms through which the EU affects domestic change. d) there are considerable differences in the EU's policies towards individual countries. So the EU policy towards the Eastern neighbourhood is not uniform and needs to be analysed through policy-implementation (the country level) rather than at policy inception (EU institutions). e) The EU's impact varies considerably across different countries/sectors. This diversity can only be explained by combining EU-level factors with domestic and regional factors. This is because of a combination of factors such as: the economic and political costs induced by EU reforms, the complexity of reforms required by the EU, as well as their political sensitivity in partner countries resulting from strong vested interests (e.g. the energy sector). The EU's mechanisms of policy transfer provided an impetus to reforms when these reforms meet domestic elites' interests (Moldova after 2009, Armenia 2009-13, Ukraine 2014) and/or regional conditions were conducive (Georgia after 2008, Armenia 2009-13). f) However, domestic factors largely account for the 'shallow' and fragmented nature of reforms, insofar as domestic implementation is concerned. EU-induced reforms tend to focus on legislative changes (legal approximation) with implementation lagging behind. g) Regional factors (the influence of Russia) initially played only limited role at the sectoral level (except the energy sector). However, Russia become a powerful 'spoiler' actor during 2013, i.e. during the conclusion of the Association Agreements. In Armenia, Russia dissuaded the President from signing the Agreement. In Ukraine Russia's offered financial incentives to president Yanukovych to not sign - resulting in mass protests and a change of political regime. Yet, ultimately, in the three countries that concluded the Agreement with the EU, Russia's coercive strategies have acted as a powerful catalyst for Europeanisation. 2. Conduct of research a. Research on the impact of the EU on domestic change in neighbouring countries requires intensive, country-specific research, involving extensive fieldwork and multiple sectors. Originally, the plan was to conduct fieldwork separately, but upon the launch of the project, with the French partner (funded by the ANR, the French counterpart of the ESRC) we coordinated our efforts and all fieldwork missions were conducted jointly. This required close coordination but greatly facilitated not only a shared understanding and comparative analysis but also the rapid production of policy-oriented publications. b. The energy sector (liberalisation of the gas market) was most difficult to research due to political sensitivities and vested interests. Nevertheless, in all the countries, there was a great degree of interest/willingness to interact with the researchers. |
| Exploitation Route | 1) The key findings are especially salient in the context of the implementation of the Association Agreements, which pose a formidable, long-term challenge for the eastern partners (Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia). 2) Russia's role has been defined in terms of blocking integration with the EU in the post-Soviet space. This 'blocking' has been especially evident in the challenge presented to the statehood of Georgia (2008) and Ukraine (2014). However, the impact of Russia's strategies on domestic change appears more nuanced with both Georgia and Ukraine becoming more determined to pursue European integration and implementing related domestic reforms, as a result of Russia's coercion. Therefore, developments in the region call for re-assessing the role of regional factors, in particular - even though not exclusively - the influence of Russia. 3) Therefore, with the crisis in Ukraine attracting attention to the EU's role in the eastern neighbourhood, more scholarly attention should be paid to the domestic context as well as the role of Russia in hindering and/or facilitating integration with the EU. The diversification in the Eastern neighbourhood calls for a radical overhaul of research design strategy, de-centring from EU-level factors and shifting attention to the 'target countries' and the regional context in which they find themselves. |
| Sectors | Energy,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | http://euimpacteast.org/-English-.html |
| Description | The project focused on the role of the EU in promoting domestic reforms in the eastern neighbourhood countries - Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Four case studies explored four sectors: food safety, state aid, gas market, and visa liberalisation. The project generated original and comparative findings providing unprecedented insights into the impact of the EU on domestic transformation in the post-Soviet countries. This resulted in high demand for our expertise and intensive dissemination and engagement with policy makers. Since late 2013, the events in Ukraine, (U-turn on the association Agreement which triggered mass protests and change of political leadership), has attracted even more attention to our project and intensified interests from academia and policy makers, including EU governments and international organisations. Academic impact been achieved by a number of scholarly publications (see the list of outputs) and participation in numerous academic conferences. The project application envisaged delivering 4 briefing papers. Overall, the project produced the following policy-oriented studies, papers and briefs: 1) R.Dragneva and K.Wolczuk 'Trade and Geopolitics, should the EU engage with the Eurasian Economic Union?, Policy Brief, European Policy Centre, Brussels (April 2015) 2) Delcour, L and Wolczuk, K. 'Armenia is becoming an important test-case for relations between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union', EUROPP, LSE Policy Blog 3) R. Dragneva and K.Wolczuk 'EU & EEU: geopolitical problems cannot be addressed by technocratic measures', European Leadership Network, (Feb 2015) 4) 'East Splits with West', Britain in 2015, (ESRC, Swindon, 2015): 122. 5) K. Wolczuk 'Ukraine and the EU: turning the Association Agreement into a success story', European Policy Centre, April 2014 6) L. Delcour and K. Wolczuk 'Beyond the Vilnius summit: Challenges for Deeper EU Integration with Eastern Europe', Brief, European Policy Centre, October 2013. 7) L. Delcour and K. Wolczuk 'Approximation of the national legislation of Eastern Partnership countries with EU legislation", Study, European Parliament, 2013, 8) R. Dragneva and K. Wolczuk 'Russia, the Eurasian Customs Union and the EU: Cooperation, Stagnation or Rivalry?' Chatham House Briefing Paper REP BP 2012/01 (August, 2012) [the paper was re- published in National Security and Defence, No.4-5, May 2013 in Ukrainian and English versions. 9) R. Dragneva and K. Wolczuk 'Russia, EU and ECU: co-existence or rivalry?', Open Democracy, (25 Sept 2012) 10) K. Wolczuk at al. 'The EU and its Eastern Partners: Energy Needs and Future Prospects', Study commissioned by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament [with others], 2012. 11) K. Wolczuk 'Perceptions of, and Attitudes towards, the Eastern Partnership amongst the Partner Countries' Political Elites, Eastern Partnership Review n°5, Estonian Centre of the Eastern Partnership, 2011 IMPACT-RELATED ACTIVITIES In addition to the written output, Dr Wolczuk was invited to deliver a number of presentations to high-level seminar and meetings with policy makers, including EU member states, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and key European think-tanks, thereby contributing to the shaping of the UK and EU's policy towards Ukraine and the eastern neighbourhood more broadly. In particular Dr Wolczuk: FCO AND UK DEFENSE AGENCIES Participated in a 'Ukraine Seminar' at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London and delivered a scene-setting presentation examining democratisation and reforms in Ukraine (June 2011). Delivered a seminar on political developments in, and foreign policy of, Ukraine to Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JCIG) as well as NATO officials at the RAF Henlow in September 2012 Delivered a presentation at the 'Ukraine Seminar' at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London in June 2012. Gave a briefing on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement to FCO staff in October 2013. Delivered a presentation at a seminar on the Ukraine protests at the FCO (Feb 2014). Participated in a high-level strategy meeting on UK/EU-Russia relations with the Minister for Europe at the FCO, London (May 2014) Participated in a briefing of the UK Ambassador-Designate to Ukraine, FCO, London (July 2015) UK HOUSE OF COMMONS 1) Delivered a presentation on the crisis in Ukraine at the House of Commons, London (July 2014) 2) Delivered a presentation on Eurasian integration at a seminar with MPs at the House of Commons, London (Feb 2015) EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (BRUSSELS) AND THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE (STRASBOURG) 1) Presented a study (co-authored with Laure Delcour) on 'Approximation of the Eastern Partnership countries' national legislation with EU legislation in the EU economic field' before Euronest's Economic Committee during the session attended by MEPs and member of parliaments from Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Ukraine, at the European Parliament, Brussels, May 2013. 2) Gave an presentation at the Public Hearing on the EU's response to Russian foreign and trade policies towards the post-Soviet states during a joint session of two committees of the European Parliament in Brussels (Committee on International Trade and the Committee on Foreign Affairs) on a panel, which also included two Directors-General from the DG Trade and European External Action Service. 3) Delivered a presentation at a closed-door seminar for the Council of Europe senior officials on EU-CoE cooperation in Eastern Europe on a panel together with the Chief Negotiator of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in Strasbourg (May 2014) UK AND US AND EAST EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS 1) Participated in an international high-level debate 'Ukraine-EU relations: at the Rubicon' organized by the European Policy Centre (Brussels) and the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv in May 2012. 2) Participated in a RAF Molesworth Intelligence V-Table on Ukrainian and Georgian parliamentary elections aimed at the US military intelligence community across the world (September 2012). 3) Delivered a briefing on Eurasian integration and its implications for the EU's eastern policy to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway in Oslo in August 2013. 4) Delivered a presentation on EU's eastern policy on a panel with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Moldova, Natalia German, at the Finish Institute for International Affairs (Oct 2013). 5) Provided expert assistance to Ukraine's MFA in formulating a position for the trilateral EU/Russia/Ukraine talks on the implications of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) for Russia (Aug/Sept 2014). 6) Delivered a presentation on the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement at the conference at the Clingendael Institute in the Hague with Dutch foreign policy makers (March 2015). 7) Delivered a presentation on the Ukrainian crisis at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended by officials from various Swedish Ministries (April 2015) 8) Delivered a presentation on Eurasian integration at the DGAP seminar on the Eastern Partnership with German and EU experts and policy makers, Berlin (March 2015) 9) Delivered a lecture on 'Ukraine: Domestic and External Challenges' for the DFID Ukraine team, London (June 2015) THINK-TANKS (UK, EU AND US) 1) Conducted at a seminar for high-level officials from 6 post-Soviet countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Belarus, Armenia and Azerbaijan) on these countries' integration with the EU. The two-day seminar took place in Kiev (Ukraine) and was organised by the Ukrainian Diplomatic Academy, the Estonian Foreign Ministry and the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership (June 2011). 2) Participated in the discussion of the Eastern Partnership and German foreign policy with the current and former members of the Polish and German parliaments at the invitation of the Representation of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Poland in Warsaw (May 2012). 3) Participated in a seminar entitled Ukraine 2020: Three Scenarios, which took place at Chatham House, London (December 2011). The Ukraine 2020 report, which was published by the Centre for Global Affairs (New York), was presented during the seminar. The Report focuses on three possible scenarios for Ukraine's political development. 4) Gave a presentation at the Euro-Atlantic Forum 'Ukraine and the EU on the Brink of the New Association Agreement: Free Trade, Energy Security and Democracy'; (January 2012) in Kyiv. The Forum was organized by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and sponsored by a number of international think-tanks. 5) Delivered lectures on Belarus and Ukraine to Belgian civil servants, judges and military personnel during a training course organised by the Royal Institute of International Affairs in Brussels In September 2011 and 2014. 6) Presented at the DAAD-sponsored conference a paper entitled 'Kyiv Between the European and Eurasian Unions: The Impact of Brussels and Moscow on Ukrainian Domestic Affairs' (September 2013); delivered a presentation on the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine on a keynote panel with the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Jan Tombinski and a former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Hryhorii Nemiria. 7) Co-organised and spoke at the seminar 'Eurasian Economic Integration: Rhetoric and Reality' in collaboration with the Russian and Eurasian programme of Chatham House (July 2013). The keynote speaker was Tatiana Valovaya, Member of the Board (Minister) of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), Moscow. 8) Delivered a seminar on Ukrainian domestic reforms at Chatham House, London (Sept 2014) 9) Delivered a presentation on Eurasian integration, at the LSE related to the launch of the LSE Report on Eurasian integration (see publications) (Sept 2014) 10) Delivered a presentation on the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement at the IISS Global Strategic Review with EU and US policy makers, Oslo (Sept 2014) 11) Delivered a presentation on the Ukrainian crisis at the British Academy conference on Fragile States (Oct 2014) 12) Delivered a presentation on the EU-Moldova Association Agreement at a conference in Chisinau, Moldova (Oct 2014) 13) Delivered a presentation on regional economic integration at the conference on the Eastern Partnership with diplomats from Slovakia and other EU member states, Bratislava (Nov 2014) 14) Delivered a presentation on the Ukrainian crisis at the seminar 'Trouble in the Neighbourhood' organised in cooperation with the Foreign Policy Centre (London) at the University of Birmingham, London (Feb 2015) 15) Participated in the conference on EU-Russia relations at the Ditchley Park conference on Russia-EU relations with EU, US and Russian policy makers (and acted as a Group Rapporteur) (February 2015) Media Commentary Over 2013-15 Kataryna Wolczuk has commented extensive on EU's eastern policy and the Ukrainian crisis and the war in Eastern Ukraine. She has given numerous interviews to UK and international media, including BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, BBC News, Euronews, BBC5live, BBC WM, Austrian International Radio, Radio Free Europe/Liberity and various international newspapers (such as the top China weekly magazine). Sometimes, she gave several interviews in one day (for example, on Sunday, 30 March 2014 she gave TV interviews to BBC News, BBC World and two radio interviews to Radio 5Live). Finally, as a result of the high-profile in the field, Dr Wolczuk was invited to join the Steering Committee of the new initiative, Ukraine Forum, launched at Chatham House in July 2015 and to become an Associate Fellow at Chatham House. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | EU FP7 |
| Amount | € 2,500,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 02/2014 |
| End | 02/2017 |
| Description | H2020 |
| Amount | € 285,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 05/2016 |
| End | 04/2019 |
| Description | Briefine of the UK Ambassador-designate to Ukraine |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Delivered a presentationon EU-Ukraine relations in a closed session with the Ambassador-designate and Whitehall policy makers. I have been invited to speak at the FCO events related to Russia and Ukraine. I have also been sharing publications (both policy oriented and academic) with FCO staff. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Co-organisation and presentation at a seminar on Eurasian integration at Chatham House (R. Dragneva and K Wolczuk) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | a half-day long seminar with presentations and discussion with UK, European and Russian representatives, including Dr Tatiana Valovaya, Commissioner for Integration, Eurasian Economic Commission, Moscow as a keynote speaker. Invitations from Moscow and other bodies (including the COuncil of Europe) to further events |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Delivered a presentation on the Parliamentary Elections in 2012 at a Chatham House seminar in January 2013 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | talk spared questions and lively discussion further requests for speaking at Chatham House |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Delivering a presentation on Ukraine-Russia trade relations to the joint session of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and the Trade Committee of the European Parliament |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The presentation sparked a lively debate amongst the MEPs. The briefing session shaped the European Parliament's position on the crisis in Ukraine. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Delivering a presentation on the 2012 Ukrainian Parliamentary Elections at the Committee for Foreign Affairs, the European Parliament in Brussels, October 2012 (K.Wolczuk). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | a lively debate amongst the MEPs further invitations to the European Parliament |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Delivering a presentation to the senior staff in a closed briefing session at the Council of Europe in Strasbour in May 2014 in Strasbourg |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The talk sparked a very open discussion on relations between the EU and the COuncil of Europe with regard to a cooperation on promotion of democracy and good governance in EU's eastern neighbourhood. Requests for further participation in the activities of the COuncil of Europe |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Kataryna Wolczuk has been an Associate Research Fellow (Russia and Eurasian Programme) at Chatham House, London and a member of the advisory board of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Participation in various activities of Chatham House, including preparing publications, on Ukraine and other post-Soviet countries |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016,2017 |
| Description | Kataryna Wolczuk has served as a member of the Locarno Group - an informal advisory board to the Minister for Europe and Americas, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other parts of the Whitehall in London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Regular participation in meetings with senior Whitehall officials dealing with Russia and other post-Soviet countries |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015,2016,2017 |
| Description | Presentation on EU's Eastern neighbours to the Foreign Minister of Norway and 12 Norwegian ambassadors to the post-Soviet countries |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | very frank and open discussion with high-level Norwegian officials requests for further engagement |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Presented a study on 'Approximation of Eastern Partnership countries with EU legislation' to the Euronest's Trade Committee in May 2013 at the European Parliament in Brussels. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | better understanding of the EU's influences on domestic change Futher publications based on the main findings of the study and an invitation to speak at the European Parliament in March 2014. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Speaking at London School of Economics IDEAS Roundtable 'Russia's Eurasia Policies and the Ukraine Crisis' in September 2014 in London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | questions and discussion feedback on how useful the event was + invitation to further events |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Visit at the permanent regulator of the Eurasian Customs Union - the Eurasian Economic Commission; briefings with representatives of the British Embassy, EU Delegation and Polish Embassy in Moscow (R. Dragneva and K.Wolczuk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | informa, off-the-record discussions requests for further information, invitation to events. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |