The Role of the Acquis Communautaire in the EU Relations with the Countries of the Eastern Partnership
Katrin Boettger, Institut fuer Europaeische Politik Berlin
Based on the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) for which the EU and Ukraine concluded negotiations in December 2011 and similar agreements envisaged for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova in the future, the paper aims at analysing the role of the acquis communautaire in these relations. Based on the question on how to deal with the democratic deficit in these countries, the paper will evaluate the importance of the acquis communautaire as a carrot in the conditionality of the EU’s policy as well as the degree of approximation these countries are able to achieve with such agreements, and in how far anti-democratic or authoritarian governments influence both negotiations and implementation of the agreements. It will show that despite drawbacks in the democratic development, for example in Ukraine and Georgia, the EU should continue to pursue the conclusion and implementation of such agreements as the reforms they induce will strengthen pro-democratic actors including civil society.