In 2021, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FEU) presented a study on «Strategic guidelines for deepening trade andIn 2021, the Federation of Employers of Ukraine (FEU) presented a study on «Strategic guidelines for deepening trade andeconomic relations between Ukraine and the European Union countries under the Association Agreement «. It is still availableon the FEU website at UA-EU_2021. The study aimed to summarize the firstfive-year period of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU and outline the directions for resetting traderelations between them on the most sensitive issues.
Four years later, it can be stated that the situation has undergoneFour years later, it can be stated that the situation has undergonefundamental changes that were unimaginable at the time ofconduct of the previous study. The big war destroyed a thirdof the Ukrainian economy and temporarily blocked traditionaltrade routes. Millions of compatriots left the country, fleeing thehostilities. In turn, manufacturers quickly shifted their focus to theEuropean Union, which unilaterally lifted most of the remainingbarriers to Ukrainian imports, organized the «Solidarity Routes»for the transit of Ukrainian goods to third countries, grantedUkraine candidate status for EU membership, and began officialaccession negotiations. However, along with great support, thisposes no less challenges for Ukrainian business, which must, intimes of unprecedented difficulties and threats, begin to adapt tothe sophisticated conditions of Ukraine’s full membership in theEU in an accelerated manner.
Much has changed for the EU itself as well. The growinggeopolitical contradictions among key global economic playershave revealed stark vulnerabilities in the community’s economicsecurity and resilience. Excessive dependence on the importof valuable raw materials and goods from countries that donot share the EU’s values risks undermining the competitivepositions of European economies at any given moment. Tradewars are disrupting established value chains and necessitatingtheir urgent reconfiguration. The EU is losing global leadership inmany innovative sectors and faces the urgent need to strengthenits security and defense sector through the development of itsown defense industry. At the same time, the EU must not losemomentum in its ambitious fight against climate change, whichrequires colossal investments in energy modernization andstructural shifts in industry. The EU recognizes the need for aradical revision of its interaction with the world based on theprinciples of open strategic autonomy, which involves makingindependent economic choices and shaping the world around itaccording to its strategic interests and values.
In response to these emerging challenges, a new study wasconducted by the Federation of Employers of Ukraine to identifypromising directions for the development of trade and investmentrelations between Ukraine and the EU in the new geopoliticalrealities. This study also aims to outline key points regardingthe format of these relations and thereby substantiate the visionof the Ukrainian business community on the key issues of theagenda for negotiations on Ukraine’s full membership in the EU.The central idea of this research is that, in order to solve economicproblems and regain global leadership, the EU needs Ukraine asmuch as Ukraine needs the support and assistance of Europeanpartners amid the existential war of attrition and the fight forsurvival and preservation as a sovereign and independent stateon the world map.
