Achievements and challenges of Ukraine’s European integration

Abstract

The issues of Ukraine’s development within the framework of the European integration project and its transformation under the influence of the convergence processes of the EU economies, Brexit, and the search for a new «European identity» are studied. The influence of European integration on the dynamics of social and macroeconomic development of Ukraine after the signing of 2014 and the implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU is revealed. The main achievements of Ukraine’s European integration are highlighted, which are mainly related to the improvement of its institutional environment, the formation of civil society, the growth of trade between Ukraine and the EU, increasing Ukraine’s capacity to overcome internal crises, including those related to the ongoing armed conflict. Donbass and modernization of the national system of public administration. Emphasis is placed on the key challenges of Ukraine’s European integration, which must be in the field of view of the national government in order to effectively overcome them through the tools of state regulation. It is established that the most serious challenges of Ukraine’s European integration are related to the problems of economic growth, deindustrialization, structural and dynamic disparities in foreign trade, macro-financial stability, as well as the inhibition of convergence between Ukraine and the EU. The key institutional challenges related to the implementation of the Agreement and institutional crises in the development of the EU have been identified. It is substantiated that Ukraine needs the reconstruction of the national economy in accordance with the new architecture in Europe and the world, which provides, in particular, the restoration of Ukraine’s own identity and economic subjectivity on the basis of social justice, which will ultimately contribute to its socio-economic convergence and full integration with the EU.