Abstract
Ukraine provides evidence of very different Common Foreign and Security Policy negotiating dynamics. In the run up to the country's Orange Revolution, significant differences persisted between member states over how the European Union (EU) should support Ukraine's democratic transition. A combination of normative entrapment and co-operative bargaining ensured that ‘maximalist’ and ‘minimalist’ member states united around a common position in support of the Orange Revolution. In subsequent debates over whether the EU should offer Ukraine a membership prospect, however, lowest common denominator dynamics prevailed. This case additionally demonstrates that both before and after Ukraine's democratic transition very specific external geostrategic factors played an important role in conditioning EU policy outcomes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Buras, P. and Pomorska, K. (2006) Poland and the European Neighbourhood Policy, in Foreign Policy Dialogue 7/19, July, www.deutsche-aussenpolitik.de.
CEPS. (2008) Neighbourhood Watch, April, Issue 37.
Commission of the European Communities. (2004) European Neighbourhood Policy Country Report Ukraine. SEC(2004) 566.
Dannreuther, R. (2006) Developing the Alternative to Enlargement: The European Neighbourhood Policy. European Foreign Affairs Review 11 (2): 183–201.
Emerson, M., Aydin, S., Noutcheva, G., Tocci, N., Vahl, M. and Youngs, R. (2005) The reluctant debutante. In: M. Emerson (ed.) Democratisation in the European Neighbourhood. Brussels, Belgium: Centre for European Policy Studies.
European Council. (1999) Common strategy of December 11, 1999 on Ukraine, 1999/877/CFSP. Official Journal of the European Communities L331 (1).
Garton Ash, T. (2005) Free World. London: Penguin.
Global Opinion Trends. (2002–2007), Pew Global Attitude Survey, 2006.
Gromadzki, G., Lopata, R. and Raik, K. (2005) Friends of Family? Finnish, Lithuanian and Polish Perspectives on the EU's Policy Towards Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. FIIA Report 12.
Guillemoles, A. (2005) Même la Neige etait Orange: La révolution ukrainienne. Paris: les Petits Matins.
Hansen, F. (2006) The EU and Ukraine: Rhetorical Entrapment. European Security 15 (2): 124–128.
ICPS Newsletter. (2005) European Union should open door to Ukraine membership, says PASOS. No. 1(260), 17 January 2005.
Karatnycky, A. (2005) Ukraine's Orange Revolution. Foreign Affairs 84 (2): 35–52.
Karatnycky, A. (2006) The fall and rise of Ukraine's political opposition: From Kuchmagate to the Orange Revolution. In: A. Aslund and M. McFaul (eds.) Revolution in Orange. Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Kubicek, P. (2003) The European Union and Ukraine: Real partners or relationship of convenience. In: P. Kubicek (ed.) The European Union and Democratization. London: Routledge.
Kuzio, T. (2005) The opposition's road to success. Journal of Democracy 16 (2): 117–129.
Larrabee, F.S. (2006) Ukraine and the West. Survival 48 (1): 93–110.
Lefebvre, M. (2006) France and the European Neighbourhood Policy, in Foreign Policy Dialogue 7/19, July, www.deutsche-aussenpolitik.de.
Lieven, A. (2006) Failure of Orange Revolution is a historic opportunity. Financial Times 25: 4.
Petrov, N. and Ryabov, A. (2006) Russia's Role in the Orange Revolution, in Revolution in Orange: The Origin of Ukraine's Democratic Breakthrough. A. Aslund and M. McFaul (eds) (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2006).
Smith, K. (2005) The outsiders: The European Neighbourhood Policy. International Affairs 81 (4): 757–773.
Solonenko, I. (2006) European Neighbourhood Policy – The Perception of Ukraine, in Foreign Policy Dialogue, 7/19, July, www.deutsche-aussenpolitik.de.
Stefan Batory Foundation. (2005) Will the Orange Revolution Bear Fruit? EU-Ukraine relations in 2005 and the beginning of 2006. Warsaw, Poland: Stefan Batory Foundation.
Sushko, O. and Prystayko, O. (2006) Western Influence, Revolution in Orange: The Origin of Ukraine's Democratic Breakthrough. A. Aslund and M. McFaul (eds.). (Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2006).
Thomas, D.C. (2009) Explaining the negotiation of EU foreign policy: Normative institutionalism and alternative approaches. International Politics 46 (4): 339–357.
Valasek, T. (2007) Ukraine's real problem. CER Bulletin, April/May, Issue 53.
Wong, R. (2005) The Europeanisation of foreign policy. In: C. Hill and M. Smith (eds.) International Relations and the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Youngs, R. (2004) Normative dynamics and strategic interests in Europe's external identity. Journal of Common Market Studies 42 (2): 415–435.
Youngs, R. (ed.) (2006) Survey of European Democracy Promotion Policies 2000–2006. Madrid, Spain: FRIDE.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank Jos Boonstra, Natalya Shapovalova, Balazs Jarabik and colleagues at the preparatory workshops to this volume for their input, along with the diplomats interviewed in Kyiv and Brussels over various trips during 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Youngs, R. ‘A door neither closed nor open’: EU policy towards Ukraine during and since the Orange Revolution. Int Polit 46, 358–375 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/ip.2009.10
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ip.2009.10