CORRESPONDENCE OF THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND LEGAL SITUATION OF UKRAINE TO THE CRITERIA FOR JOINING THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

The article analyzes the readiness of Ukraine to join the European Union. Currently, the relevance of membership in the European Union for Ukraine is justified by the country’s geopolitical situation, financial and economic, as well as technological factors for sustainable development of the national socio-economic system. It is noted that Ukraine’s attempts to become a full-fledged member of the European Union date from the beginning of its declaration of independence and continue to this day. The signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union in 2014 was a key moment in Ukraine’s European integration path. The Association Agreement is the largest international legal document in the entire history of Ukraine and the largest international agreement with a third country ever concluded by the European Union in terms of its volume and thematic coverage. It defines a qualitatively new format of relations between Ukraine and the European Union based on “political association and economic integration” and is a strategic reference point for systemic socio-economic reforms in Ukraine. The deepened and comprehensive free trade zone between Ukraine and the European Union provided for by the Agreement will determine the legal basis for the free movement of goods, services, capital, partly labor force between Ukraine and the European Union, as well as regulatory convergence aimed at the gradual entry of the Ukrainian economy into the common market of the European Union. It is emphasized that to fulfil its obligations under the Agreement with the European Union, Ukraine has carried out some reforms in the political, economic, and legal spheres. According to the existing requirements, to join the European Union, a candidate country must comply with the Copenhagen membership criteria. According to these criteria, it was considered what has already been done by Ukraine, and which of the requirements still need to be implemented. Based on the above, an analysis of the possibility of Ukraine’s potential membership in the European Union was carried out based on the characteristics of the current state of relations between Ukraine and EU member states, and the conformity of the current political, economic and legal situation of Ukraine with the criteria for joining the European Union was analyzed.