EU Seeks Deeper Ties With Ukraine, But Holds Off On Membership Promise

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union agreed Monday to begin negotiations for closer across-the-board ties with Ukraine but — in a setback for Britain and Poland — held off on any promise of future EU membership for its giant eastern neighbor.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner
At a foreign ministers meeting, Britain and Poland asked that the mandate to open negotiations for an "enhanced relationship" — leading to eventual free trade with Kiev — refer to future membership. But France and others keen on slowing future expansion blocked that, officials said.

In a compromise, the ministers issued a separate declaration acknowledging "Ukraine's European aspirations."

They added, "A new enhanced agreement shall not prejudge any possible future developments in EU-Ukraine relations."

Ukraine is one of 13 members of an EU "neighborhood" program of broad economic aid and eventual free trade that specifically excludes future membership. The others are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority and Tunisia and — to the east — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova.

The program offers easy access to the vast EU market of 455 million consumers in exchange for economic and political reforms designed to keep the EU's fringes secure and stable. The foreign ministers boosted funding in 2007-2013 to €12 billion (US$15.6 billion), up 32 percent from 2000-2006.

This includes an offer of €1 billion (US$1.3 billion) to the most reform-minded neighbors and help trigger private lending for them.

The arms-length nature of the aid program has long irked Ukraine which in the past has expressed an interest in joining the EU.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she hoped to begin negotiations for an enhanced cooperation to "build on our existing agreements (and) pave the way toward ... a free trade area."

Central to the enhanced relationship, she said, will be cooperation in energy. Ukraine is both a supplier of energy to the EU and an important transit nation for gas and oil from Russia.

In the 2007-2012 period, the neighborhood program will put more focus on trade, increased cooperation in energy, migration and economic issues as well as greater financial support and more help to resolve regional conflicts.

While most neighbors have made progress in economic and political reforms, poverty, corruption, unemployment, mixed economic performance and weak governance remain challenges saddling the EU with illegal immigration, unreliable energy supplies, environmental damage and problems of terrorism. In the years ahead, the EU neighborhood program will aim for:

_ a greater EU role in resolving regional conflicts

_ more aid to bolder management of weak frontiers

_ boosting free trade efforts to cover goods and services which means helping neighbors raise their norms and standards of products and services to the EU level.

_ cutting red tape for those who want visas for legitimate official travel and people-to-people programs.

_ engaging all neighbors in debating common issues such as energy, transport, the environment, rural development, research cooperation, public health, financial services and migration or maritime affairs.

Source: International Herald Tribune