Paper Titles & Abstracts

The paper looks at the history of Ukraine-EU relations in terms of the country's integration into the European economic and political area, and analyses some current developments and prospects. In addition, it examines differences between social and economic development in the new EU member states (enlargement of 2004 and 2007) and in Ukraine, as many of these countries have a similar historical background and a comparable geopolitical location to estimate the perspectives of Ukraine's integration into the EU. The findings are used to determine the place of Ukraine in the European economic arena and answer the question whether the country is ready to confirm its readiness to join the EU. It is also stressed that the experience of new EU member states shows that the legacy of uneven economic development in Europe is not the primary key in the struggle to adopting the European model of development. Considering that the main challenge for Ukraine's integration into the EU lies in the failure of political institutions in Ukraine, we also believe that the "green light" from the Brussels is of great importance.