Frankrijk stelt associatieovereenkomst EU-Oekraïne voor (en) - Hoofdinhoud
EUOBSERVER/BRUSSELS - France has floated proposals for special EU relations with Ukraine, stopping short of a future accession promise. But the ideas have been met with caution in both Kiev and Brussels.
The French blueprint posits signing a new "Association Agreement" with Ukraine, with Paris keen to conclude the pact's political chapter at an EU-Ukraine summit in September under the French EU presidency.
The deal would give Ukraine the right to be pre-consulted on new EU policies, in the manner of non-EU Schengen passport-free zone or European Economic Area countries such as Norway and Iceland.
The word "association" is also evocative of "association" pacts signed with ex-communist states before they joined the EU in 2004, or pre-accession "association" treaties currently being negotiated with Balkan states.
France is even sympathetic to inserting suggestive rhetoric such as "the future of Ukraine is in the heart of Europe" into the Ukraine agreement. But it opposes using any legally-binding language on enlargement perspectives.
A second, free trade chapter, is to be added to the pact between 2009 and 2011.
The EU and Ukraine started negotiations on the as-yet-unnamed treaty last March, with the French proposals filtering out to EU diplomats between December and February as Paris prepares to take over the EU helm in June.
New Tone
France's new tone contrasts with the more Ukraine-hostile politics of former French president Jacques Chirac, who sent his foreign minister to Kiev shortly after the pro-western 2004 Orange Revolution to warn the country not to apply for EU membership.
Current French leader Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly has a warm personal relationship with Ukraine prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and president Viktor Yushchenko.
But the French position remains ambiguous. "We also have an association agreement with Chile [which can never join the EU on geographical grounds]," a French diplomat told EUobserver. "Our president has shown he is ready and willing to have stronger relations with the EU's neighbours," she added.
Ukraine negotiators are wondering if it might be better to hold out for a more substantial deal under a different EU presidency in 2009.
"There is a serious threat that one side thinks it has got something, and it delivers that message to its people. But in reality it has got nothing," a Ukrainian official said.
Turkey angle?
Meanwhile, some EU officials suspect the French proposal could be aimed at diminishing Turkey's EU entry prospects and trying to make new allies among pro-Ukraine entry states such as Poland and Lithuania.
"France has made it clear it is against Turkish accession. But it cannot just make negative statements against Turkey all the time. It has to suggest some positive alternative as well," one EU official said.
"They could appear very pro-Ukraine while putting forward a treaty text that they know will be blocked by other anti-enlargement EU states," the contact added.