Black Sea Synergy European Union Ukraine Moldova

Course summary Black Sea Synergy (European Union)

The European Union supports regional development in South-East Europe with its Black Sea Synergy. By encouraging cooperation between the countries surrounding the Black Sea, the synergy offers a forum for tackling common problems while encouraging political and economic reform.

The recent period has seen the rapid development of relations between the European Union and the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

Countries concerned: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (South Caucasus), Moldova, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Ukraine is a priority partner country within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) which entered into force in 1998 and provides a comprehensive and ambitious framework for cooperation between the EU and Ukraine, in all key areas of reform. As Ukraine became a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in May 2008, negotiations on the establishment of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) could be launched, as an integral part of the Association Agreement.

The EU is one of Ukraine's biggest commercial partners and accounts for about one third of its external trade. In 2008 Ukraine was the EU's 17th largest trading partner and 14th largest export market. The EU is Ukraine's largest trading partner, with 27.1% of the total exports and 33.7% of imports in 2008. EU-Ukraine trade reached 39.5bn EUR in 2008.

The EU-Ukraine FTA is supposed to become the first of a new type of “deep and comprehensive” trade agreements. The FTA will cover a wide array of trade-related issues (“comprehensive”) and it aims at eliminating 'behind the border' obstacles to trade through processes of regulatory approximation, thus partially opening/extending the EU internal market to Ukraine (“deep”). The FTA will give Ukraine "a stake in the EU internal market".

European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)

Example of the course Black Sea Synergy (European Union):

Moldova is a partner country within the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The EU and Moldova intend to establish a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), when the relevant conditions are met and expressed their commitment to make progress in line with the agreed set of steps towards that objective.

In 2009 the total turnover of trade with Moldova reached €1.6 billion after €2.5 billion in the previous year. The downturn of bilateral trade in 2009 relates to the global economic crisis in 2009, overall however EU-Moldova has increased over the last five years not the least thanks to the autonomous trade preferences granted by the EU in 2008. The EU is Moldova's most important trading partner with a 52.3% share of its external trade, followed by CIS countries (37.8% share).

Trade in goods
- EU good exports to Moldova 2009: €1.1billion
- EU goods imports from Moldova 2009: €523 million