EU-supported reforms in the EU neighbourhood as organized anarchies: the case of post-Maidan Ukraine

Abstract

How does the EU and its member states organize their support for reforms in the countries of the EU Neighbourhood? Building on organization theory research on reforms as sets of loosely coupled ‘garbage can’ processes, we conceptualize the ENP induced reform processes as an organized framework connecting the reform capacities of not only the EU institutions but also EU member-state governments. We apply this approach to Ukraine in the post-Maidan period. We focus on the interplay between EU-level reform capacities and the capacities of two member states highly active in Ukraine, namely Germany and Sweden. As this case illustrates, the current approach provides a complementary perspective to mainstream approaches to the study of the EU’s external governance as it offers partial explanations of how organizational processes may impact on the efficiency of reforms promoted by the EU and its member states in the neighbouring countries.

Keywords:

• EU neighbourhood
• reforms
• Ukraine
• ambiguity
• garbage can process of decision-making
• organization theory

Acknowledgements

Earlier versions of this article were presented at workshops and seminars at the Department of Political Science at Comenius University in Bratislava and at NUPI in Oslo in 2016. We are grateful for useful comments and suggestions by the participants in these events, the two anonymous reviewers as well as the editors of this journal.

Notes

1. ENP Action Plans include economic development, environmental policy, energy cooperation, border control, food safety, organized crime, migration management, terrorism, regional conflict prevention, political dialogue, nuclear non-proliferation, tourism, education, tax policy and others (see Van Vooren 2012:3).

2. See ‘European Neighbourhood Policy – How it works’, available on the EEAS web-site at https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/european-neighbourhood-policy-enp/330/european-neighbourhood-policy-enp_en, accessed 1 November 2016.

3. See http://www.financialobserver.eu/cse-and-cis/ukraine/ukraine-should-be-forced-to-implement-reforms/, accessed 1 November 2016.

4. See Chronology of EU – Ukraine Bilateral Relations at http://eeas.europa.eu/archives/delegations/ukraine/eu_ukraine/chronology/index_en.htm, accessed on November 3, 2017.

5. For background on the decision to liberalize travel for Ukrainians to the Schengen zone see http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-17-1270_en.htm, accessed on June 20, 2017).

6. See http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/neighbourhood/countries/ukraine/index_en.htm, accessed 29 October 2016.

7. See Support Package for Ukraine. Brussels: European Commission, 5 March 2014, p. 4 (available at http://europa.eu/newsroom/files/pdf/ukraine_en.pdf, accessed 15 October 2016).

8. Ibid.

9. See http://ukraine-gateway.org.ua/international-organizations/assistance-database.html, accessed 15 October 2016.

10. See http://www.ims-ukraine.org/en/reform-municipal-services-eastern-ukraine (accessed 15 October 2016).

11. See http://www.swedenabroad.com/en-GB/Embassies/Kyiv/Development-Cooperation/Development-Cooperation-with-Ukraine/, accessed 15 October 2016.

12. See http://udtilskudd.regjeringen.no/#/nb/sector/details?country=14&year=2015, accessed15 October 2016.

13. Interview, senior diplomat, Permanent mission of Germany to the EU, Brussels, 29 May 2015.

14. See EU – Ukraine: A European Agenda for Reform. Brussels: European Commission, 4 July 2014 (available at http://ec.europa.eu/archives/commission_2010-2014/fule/docs/ukraine/a_european_agenda_for_reform.pdf, accessed 10 October 2016).

15. See Aktionsplan Ukraine, Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, 5 June 2015 (available at http://www.kiew.diplo.de/contentblob/4539124/Daten/5510808/pdf_aktionsplan.pdf, accessed 1 November 2016).

16. See http://www.ims-ukraine.org/en, accessed 10 September 2016.

17. The GIZ has been publishing its expert reports on in Ukraine since 2008. See http://www.ims-ukraine.org/en/publications (accessed 15 October 2016).

18. See, for instance, D. Schimanke and H. Zimmermann, (2008): Stellungnahme zu Konzept und Gesetzentwurf zur Administrativ-territorialen Reform in der Ukraine, Projektdokument N. 19, GIZ, Kiev, November 2008 (available at http://www.ims-ukraine.org/sites/default/files/Nr-19-deutsch.pdf; accessed 29 September 2016).

19. See Nachhaltige Entwicklungspolitik: deutsche Erfahrungen bei der Lösung ökologischer und sozialer Probleme, Perspektiven deren Anwendung in der Ukraine. KAS Policy Paper 23, Kiev: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 2 September 2015 (available at http://www.kas.de/ukraine/de/publications/42407/, accessed 29 September 2016).

20. See Samarbetsstrategi for utvecklingssamarbetet med Ukraina januari 2009 –December 2013. Stockholm: Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 11 December 2008 (available at http://www.regeringen.se/contentassets/14ff44c69d9141219ca5eb51130a20be/strategi-for-utvecklingssamarbetet-med-ukraina-2009-2013, accessed 20 October 2016).

21. Ibid., 2.

22. See http://www.government.se/opinion-pieces/2014/11/swedens-commitment-to-ukraine-deepens/, accessed on Oct 29, 2016.

23. For a complete list of projects supported, with brief descriptions and financial allotments see http://www.swedenabroad.com/en-GB/Embassies/Kyiv/Development-Cooperation/Development-Cooperation-with-Ukraine/; accessed Oct 29, 2016.

24. See http://www.sida.se/English/where-we-work/Europe/Ukraine-/Cooperation-in-figures/, accessed 29 October 2016.

25. For an overview of project aims, funding and duration see http://www.swedenabroad.com/en-GB/Embassies/Kyiv/Development-Cooperation/Development-Cooperation-with-Ukraine/, accessed 15 September 2016).

26. Data on EU projects from the EU Aid Extwoplorer database (available EU Aid Explorer: https://euaidexplorer.ec.europa.eu/SearchPageAction.do; accessed 12 December 2015).

27. Interview, Polish mission to the EU, Brussels, 28 May 2015.

28. Interview, German mission to the EU, 29 May 2015.

30. Interview, German mission to the EU, 29 May 2015.

31. Interview, German mission to the EU, 29 May 2015.

32. Expert interview, Bratislava, 20 June 2015.

33. Interview, German mission to the EU, 29 May 2015.

34. Expert interview, Bratislava, 20 June 2015; interviews EEAS HQ Brussels, 27 and 28 May 2015.