Prospects of Ukraine and EU trade cooperation within the deep and comprehensive free trade area

Abstract

Introduction. Today European integration is recognized as the main strategic vector of Ukraine’s external economic policy. The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement is signed by the EU and Ukraine as a part of Association Agreement has started acting on the 1-st of January, 2016. It offers Ukraine a framework for modernizing its trade relations with the EUand for economic development through opening markets.

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to overview the prospects of Ukraine and EU trade cooperation within the DCFTA by specifying the constraints that restrain the development of trade and identifying the opportunities and progress of Ukrainian economy in DCFTA implementation.

Methodology. Methods of logical analysis, comparison, statistical observation, graphical analysis are used in investigation.

Results. Today the EU is Ukraine’s largest trading partner providing 34,1% of Ukraine’s goods export. Among the constraints restraining the trade development within the DCFTA in Ukrainian key export sectors there are incompatibility of products and technological processes with European standards, obsolete production base and technologies, lack of funds for modernization and European standards introduction, extremely high competition at the EU markets, poor informational support of doing business with EU companies. The situation is complicated with problems of macro-level forced by financial and economic crisis and external military aggression. However certain positive changes like adopting the legislative basis for European standards implementation and the strong intentions of Ukrainian business to enter the EU markets are taking place. The prospects of further trade cooperation within the DCFTA lie in the quickest transition to European standards and conduction of the structural economic reformson the basis of innovative development.